The Road Less Traveled

180 Miles - 3 Days

Many pioneers took the Barlow Road around Mt. Hood and you too can follow this "alternative route" to the end of the Oregon Trail.

The Columbia River was a treacherous white water ride to the end of the Oregon Trail, on a wooden raft loaded with wagons and supplies. No wonder it claimed the lives of 10% of its travelers. So, when Sam Barlow and Joel Palmer carved their toll road around Mt. Hood to Oregon City, it was an instant success. The Barlow Road Driving Tour on an audio CD is available at the Regional Visitor Information Centers and many museums in the area.

Day 1
From Portland drive east on I-84 to the windsurfing mecca of Hood River. Wind your way up Highway 35 through the "Fruit Loop," a glorious landscape of green hills and rolling fruit orchards with snowcapped Mt. Hood in the background. The Barlow Rd. sites begin with Barlow Pass Summit on Hwy35 and Pioneer Woman's Grave. Continue to Laurel Hill on the South side of Hwy26, 1 mile before Government Camp. Take a short walk to the upper chute of Laurel Hill, where wagons were emptied and lowered on a pulley.

Day 2
Stay at the historic Timberline Lodge and check out the Palmer Glacier. Joel Palmer climbed this glacier to scout the route to the valley. Ride the Magic Mile chair lift for your own stellar views of the Cascades. Visit the W. Barlow Tollgate before Rhododendron. This was the last tollgate to be operated on the Barlow Rd. Stop in the charming town of Sandy for lunch, antiquing, wine-tasting and more great Mt. Hood views from Jonsrud Point. Drive past rural farming towns to the Philip Foster Farm, a National Historic Register 1847 Pioneer farm, boasting the oldest lilac in Oregon. Here try your hand at pioneer-era laundry, weighing and measuring and building with Lincoln Logs.

Day 3
Next is Damascus and a stop at the Pioneer Craft School, where modern crafters are taught to do things in the old way. Continue to Carver and the oldest pioneer cabin in Oregon. Finally, stop in Oregon's original capital, Oregon City - at the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, Museum of the Oregon Territory and Willamette Falls Locks Museum for glimpses of early settlers' life on the Willamette River.

This itinerary is provided by Mt. Hood Territory's Clackamas County Tourism Development Council.

Click here for more Mt. Hood Territory itineraries.