Historic Columbia River Highway: Troutdale to Dodson
24 miles of the original 1913–1922 Historic Columbia River Highway from Troutdale through the waterfall corridor — Latourell, Shepperd's Dell, Bridal Veil, Wahkeena and Multnomah Falls among them — toward Dodson. America's first planned scenic roadway, now a narrow two-lane road shared with heavy tourist and cyclist traffic.
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Multnomah Falls and other popular stops see real vehicle and pedestrian congestion, especially on weekends and in summer — a parking permit system is in effect at Multnomah Falls during peak season. This is a historic tourist road first, not a road to treat as a clear run. Check current access · Reviewed 2026-09-23
Planning the drive
Built between 1913 and 1922, this is widely credited as the first planned scenic roadway in the United States — designed specifically to bring travelers up close to the Gorge's waterfalls rather than just to move traffic. 58 counted bends over 23.7 miles at a gentle 5.2% maximum grade makes this an easy road to drive technically; the difficulty here is entirely about what's sharing it with you. Wikipedia: Historic Columbia River Highway
Multnomah Falls alone draws enough traffic that a parking permit system runs during peak season, and the narrow two-lane road backs up behind cars stopping for every waterfall pull-out. Treat this as a scenic drive to take slowly with stops planned in, not a road to run — weekday mornings are the way to get it with less congestion. Travel Oregon: The Historic Columbia River Highway
Roads to connect
- Larch Mountain RoadBranches off near Corbett, a different kind of drive entirely — technical switchbacks instead of a waterfall tour.
Driving notes updated .
Road shape
- Length
- 23.7 mi
- Bends
- 58
- Switchbacks
- 11
- Bends per mile
- 2.4
- Turning per mile
- 298°
- Curviest rank
- 107of 165
Measured from the OpenStreetMap centreline at a 20 m sampling step — road shape only, not a safety or speed judgement. How bends are counted.
Elevation
- Total climb
- 2,725ft
- Climb per mile
- 115ft
- Highest point
- 916ft
- Steepest grade
- 5.2%
Sampled every 100 m from USGS 10 m elevation data, a public-domain federal dataset. Total climb counts vertical change in both directions, so it does not depend on which way you drive. How elevation is measured.
Speed limits
Varies
Unverified
Check posted signs along the road.
No reliable posted limit was found for this selected section. Follow current signs.
Posted signs always govern. How speed evidence is handled.
Sources
Difficulty 2/3 (Winding) is our editorial rating of width, bends and sightlines; “Medium speed” describes character, not a target speed. Full method. Identified from:
- Wikipedia: Historic Columbia River Highway
- Oregon State Parks: Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail
- OpenStreetMap road data (77 ways in this trace)
Reviewed 2026-09-23. The trace shows selected road sections, not a navigation route.
Roads nearby
Distances are approximate straight lines between road centers, not driving distances or direct connections.