Hood River Pipeline Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
- Start point: Powerdale Powerhouse Trailhead
- End point: Powerdale Penstock Washout
- Hike Type: In and out
- Distance: 3.3 miles
- Elevation gain: 110 feet
- High point: 200 feet
- Difficulty: Easy
- Seasons: All year
- Family Friendly: Yes
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: On summer weekends
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Hike Description
This excursion along the lower reaches of the Hood River involves some aberrations of what is normally considered a “hike.” First, you’re on private land all the way, actually the route of the old penstock which led from the 1923 Powerdale Dam on the Hood River, decommissioned in 2010, to the powerhouse and gantry where you’ll begin the hike, all of this route having been turned over to the Columbia Land Trust by PacifiCorp in 2013. Young Hood Riverians blooded themselves hiking along the top of the nine-foot diameter penstock to reach “secret” beaches on the Hood River. Much of the penstock has been taken away. Unusually, however, part of the agreement for the transfer of ownership, in addition to restoration of fish habitat, was to preserve recreational use of the corridor. This provision is somewhat of a nightmare as the route trespasses on the Mount Hood Railroad’s right of way and also involves 0.6 miles of PacifiCorp’s catwalk atop the remaining section of penstock, the most interesting section of this hike.
To begin your exploration of this corridor, walk up to the information kiosk, and then head right towards the well graffitied power station. To your left, the Mount Hood Railroad’s trestle spans the Hood River. The end of the trail is behind the powerhouse, straddled by its maintenance gantry. From here, you’ll get a view across the cobbled verges of the Hood River to a stand of cottonwoods that glows golden in the fall.
Return to the parking area, and take the wide path that leads across the Mount Hood Railroad (This crossing is controversial, and there are plans to construct some kind of safe passage over or under the railroad.). Bear left to walk along the railroad, where there’s still a section of the old penstock. A steep oak-forested hillside slopes down from Highway 35 above. A spur leads right to rock hop a narrow river channel to pass through blackberries, willows, and cottonwoods to a beach on the main channel of the Hood River. Back at the railroad tracks, take the next path on the right to follow the penstock route along the alder-fringed river. Now between you and the railroad, there are the old concrete supports of the decommissioned penstock. On your right, you can visit a beach below a drop in the river. Then pass a junction of sorts with the path that comes down from Kodak Point on Highway 35, the stop where motorists take in a glorious view of Mount Hood.
Come to the pipeline bridge where the river braids on both sides of you. You’ll take this catwalk on top of the old penstock for the last 0.6 miles of the hike. At an open gate on the other side of the crossing, a vertical ladder leads down so you can access the beach, the first of three opportunities to get down from the catwalk. Bear in mind that the toothed grill of the walkway may do damage to your dog’s paws. The penstock and its maintenance catwalk cross a densely thicketed flat of maple, alder, red osier dogwood, and blackberry. You’ll see a makeshift rope and block leading down to your left at a break in the railing. The pipeline becomes squeezed between the river and a steep slope. A steel ladder drops to the right. Taking this, you’ll follow the penstock back to duck under it and take a trail that ends up at a small beach on a narrows in the river. Back on the catwalk, you’ll soon reach the end of the current walkway. The section ahead of you was destroyed in the November 2006 rampage of the Hood River, the event which led to the eventual dismantling of the Powerdale Dam.
Maps
Regulations or restrictions, etc
- Day use only: no fires or camping
- Picnic tables, information kiosk
- Not recommended to take dogs on the catwalk
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Hood River Pipeline Hike
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Hood River Pipeline Hike
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- Curious Gorge by Scott Cook
- PDX Hiking 365 by Matt Reeder
More Links
- Powerdale Recreation & Access Plan (Columbia Land Trust)
- A Powerful Future (Columbia Land Trust)
- Take Me to the River (Columbia Insight)
- Hood River Pipeline Trail A29 (Curious Gorge Blog)
- Pipeline Trail in Hood River (hikespeak)
- Hidden Catwalk Hike in the Columbia River Gorge (Travel Columbia River Gorge)
- “Hood River Pipeline Trail: A hidden catwalk near the Columbia River” (Greg Lamm)
- “Public access planned at Powerdale Corridor” (Hood River News)
- “After a dam falls, 400 prime acres along Hood River given to county, land trust” (Oregon Live)
- Hood River—Powerdale Corridor (eBird)
Contributors
- bobcat (creator)