8 to 10 hours (approx.)
Daily Tour
14 people
English
Just a short drive from Portland sit two of Oregon's most celebrated areas of natural beauty: Mount Hood and the Columbia River Gorge. This tour will take you to both in a private vehicle just for your party. You'll also get to visit the town of Hood River and the nearby Hood River Valley, known for its orchards and fruit stands.
Mt. Hood is a potentially active stratovolcano, the highest peak in Oregon, and the fourth highest in the Cascades. Not only is it known for its beauty, visible on the skyline of much of northern Oregon and southern Washington, but it is also the most climbed stratovolcano in the Cascades, easily accessible from Timberline Lodge, which is the only ski resort in the US that is open every month of the year. You will spend 1-2 hours at Timberline Lodge, on the mountain, just below the Palmer Glacier.
2 hours • Admission Ticket Free
This Works Progress Administration project was dedicated by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1937. It is one of the most unique, and expansive buildings in the State of Oregon, sitting on Mt. Hood above timberline, for utterly sublime views. You can divide your time among interpretive displays, food & drink venues, hiking in summer and snowplay in winter, as you like. The lodge is a National Historic Landmark, and the only ski resort in the US that is open every month of the year.
1 hour • Admission Ticket Free
Depending on the season, we’ll stop at this charming orchard store, where you can buy fresh fruit & preserves, pet the cats and goats, and get a spectacular shot of Mt. Hood, weather permitting.
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Depending on the season, we’ll stop at this homey country store, who not only sell fruit and preserves, but also homemade pies and huckleberry milkshakes!
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Dubbed the “windsurfing capital” of the world, Hood River also has more breweries per capita than any other city in the US, and a plethora of tasting rooms, galleries, boutique shops, restaurants, and cafes. This is where you’ll spend your lunch hour.
1 hour • Admission Ticket Free
The 85-mile (137-km) long Columbia Gorge NSA features waterfalls, mountains, monoliths, terraces, resort towns, vineyards, orchards, the Columbia River, a plethora of birds, and a plant community that changes dramatically between the west and east ends.
3 hours • Admission Ticket Free
The quintessential photo opportunity for the eastern Gorge.
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
This 74-mile (123-km) long historic highway was inspired by the Axenstrasse in the Swiss Alps. These days one can no longer drive the entire highway, but we will drive portions of this picturesque, engineering marvel in both the eastern and western gorge, past basalt terraces and waterfalls.
• Admission Ticket Free
Columbia River crossing for the Pacific Crest Trail, and lowest point on that trail. Named for a Native American legend that explains the local geology.
• Admission Ticket Free
Another National Historic Landmark, Bonneville Dam was the first Public Works Administration dam on the Columbia River, completed in 1938.
• Admission Ticket Free
Largest hatchery in the state of Oregon.
• Admission Ticket Free
A hidden beauty…watch quickly, or you might miss it!
• Admission Ticket Free
The fifth largest free-standing monolith in the world. It is an 848-ft (258-m) volcanic plug, composed of columnar basalt, so similar in size and composition to Devil’s Tower, Wyoming.
• Admission Ticket Free
Don’t miss this quirky waterfall as we pass by!
• Admission Ticket Free
The tallest waterfall in the state, with a combined height of 620 feet.
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Another cute waterfall to watch for closely!
• Admission Ticket Free
Once known as Thor’s Hammer, this geological feature towers above, with a crown-shaped building sitting atop, and a waterfall coming down the side.
• Admission Ticket Free
As we pass by, view the rock that inspired North America’s oldest continuously running nudist beach!
• Admission Ticket Free
We’ll cross the Sandy River between the Columbia Gorge and Willamette Valley. The Sandy’s headwaters is a glacier on Mt. Hood, and the river is known for its Steelhead and Chinook runs. As a result, the Sandy is one of three tributaries of the Columbia who’s dams have been removed since 2007.
• Admission Ticket Free