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The mighty Columbia River surges and flows through the Pacific Northwest, carving a majestic path between Oregon and Washington and offering all kinds of sight-seeing possibilities. Whether you’re exploring the river’s entirety or dabbling in day trips to Sauvie Island or the Columbia River Gorge, you’ll find a perfect home base in Portland or — if you’re into quirky-fun lodgings — nearby Troutdale.
On this particular rain-tinged weekend, we’ve settled in at the McMenamins Edgefield hotel in Troutdale, a small city near the mouth of the river gorge. Portland brothers Mike and Brian McMenamin have made a name for themselves by opening pubs, theaters and a dozen whimsical hotels in historic properties across Oregon and Washington.
The Edgefield was their first hotel, the property built in 1911 as the county poor farm. They began renovating it in 1990 with just a handful of rooms — and 74 acres of bramble-covered land. Today, it’s an irresistible 100-room hotel with handmade art on every wall, nook or cranny. A sense of magic permeates the place.
There are restaurants and diminutive bars, including Jerry’s Ice House, which pays homage to the Grateful Dead, and the tiny Tea House Bar, which seats four. There’s a movie theater, a brewery, a distillery, a winery and a spa on site. Also, a glass blower. And a potter. Did we mention the concert venue?
So, it’s tough to drag ourselves away from this for any kind of day-trip adventure. Especially when it’s so chilly outside and so cozy inside the Edgefield’s Little Red Shed Pub — capacity 10 hobbits.
But if anything could do so, it’s the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Twenty minutes down the road, we see the century-old, octagonal Vista House emerge from the mist, perched atop Crown Point, 733 feet above the river. It was the brainchild of Samuel Lancaster, the engineer who headed the Columbia River Highway project in 1913 and dreamed of creating “an observatory,” he said, “from which the view both up and down the Columbia could be viewed in silent communion with the infinite.”
That such communion is accompanied by whipped cream-swirled, toffee-flavored espresso — courtesy of the Vista House espresso bar — is a bonus on this blustery day. This dramatic basalt promontory was once known as Thor’s Heights. The Norse god might find the temperature up here utterly delightful, but we mortals are windswept and freezing. We clutch our hot drinks, and take warming sips as we absorb the incredible views.
Both the espresso bar and the little gift shop here, with its local products, souvenirs and wonderfully retro postcards, help support the volunteer-run Friends of the Vista House and its interpretive projects. There’s a small museum, too, with photographs that depict the building of the riverfront highway and this art-nouveau marvel a century ago.
The view from this aerie offers sweeping landscapes. But a return to earth is necessary to see the gorge’s incredible concentration of waterfalls — more than 90 on the Oregon side alone. We spot at least four waterfalls on the short drive to the spectacular 620-foot Multnomah Falls, which draws some 2.5 million visitors each year.
It’s a ¼-mile hike up to the Benson Bridge; the famous bridge, which reopened last summer, offers incredible views. (Wildfires and landslides in 2017 closed the bridge; the hiking trail to the top is still closed.) Just make sure you wear grippy shoes. The spray from the falls renders every surface slick.
By now, it has begun to sprinkle. We’re not sure where the spray ends and the rain begins. Wetly, we gaze at the falls in wonder, before retreating to the Multnomah Falls Lodge nearby. Built in 1925, the day lodge houses a restaurant, a gift shop — and a coffee cart.
Hobbits await back at Edgefield, but there’s always time for espresso.
IF YOU GO
Vista House: Open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday-Sunday during the off-season at 40700 E. Historic Columbia River Highway, Corbett; www.vistahouse.com and https://oregonstateparks.org
Multnomah Falls: The lodge opens at 9 a.m. Monday-Thursday and 8 a.m. Friday-Sunday at 53000 E. Historic Columbia River Highway, Bridal Veil; www.fs.usda.gov and http://www.multnomahfallslodge.com
McMenamins Edgefield: Rooms start at $85. 2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale, Oregon; www.mcmenamins.com
