Historic Columbia River Highway | |
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Route information | |
Maintained by ODOT, OPRD, etc. | |
Length: | 74.1 mi (119.3 km) (measured by historic mileposts) |
History: | Constructed 1913–1922; bypassed in 1950s; added to NRHP on December 12, 1983 |
Major junctions | |
West end: | Troutdale |
Bridge of the Gods in Cascade Locks OR 35 near Hood River |
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East end: | US 30 in The Dalles |
Highway system | |
Columbia River Highway Historic District
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NRHP Reference # | 83004168 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | December 12, 1983 |
Designated NHL | May 16, 2000 |
The Historic Columbia River Highway is an approximately 75-mile-long (121 km) scenic highway in the U.S. state of Oregon between Troutdale and The Dalles, built through the Columbia River Gorge between 1913 and 1922. As the first planned scenic roadway in the United States, it has been recognized in numerous ways, including a listing on the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark, designation as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers, and considered a "destination unto itself" as an All-American Road by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation. The historic roadway was bypassed by the present Columbia River Highway No. 2 (Interstate 84) from the 1930s to the 1950s, leaving behind the old two-lane road. The road is now mostly owned and maintained by the state through the Oregon Department of Transportation as the Historic Columbia River Highway No. 100 (still partially marked as U.S. Route 30; see Oregon highways and routes) or the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department as the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail.