Hood River’s waterfront trails & beaches
Discover flat bike/ped trails, beaches, a kid-size climbing wall, bike rentals (nearby), restaurants, coffee, a brewpub, people watching and the best sandbar in the gorge.
From Columbia Gorge Getaways, here’s a slate of play-eat-stay ideas for a summer weekend of staying out of your car, in the sun.*
Rent bikes in Hood River at Discover Bicycles (541) 386–4820 or Mountain View Cycles. The 2.8-mile flat waterfront trail starts east of the Best Western Plus Hood River Inn, the only water level lodging in town. (It’s just east of the map’s limits, to the right of the bridge.)
From there, bike or walk west under the Hood River Bridge, do some boat-watching at the 160-slip Marina, stop and get a map and chat at the Visitor Center.
For more boat-gawking (so much cheaper than owning one), ride north along the Marina on Port Marina Drive, or just keep west on the trail. You’ll pass the History Museum; stop in for an hour, learning a bit about the county’s fruit industry, and Luhr Jensen who started a business making fishing lures, of course, plus Japanese Americans in HR and their internment, among other topics.
Then cross the Hood River itself on a lovely bike/ped bridge. This area was called Waucoma — place of the cottonwoods, by the first peoples who lived here. It’s much altered now — most of the area you’re traversing is fill. The original mouth of the Hood River was inundated by rising water behind Bonneville Dam;
Once over the bridge, bike west then north along the Nichols Boat Basin. It’s a former boat-building harbor (the sternwheeler Columbia Gorge was built here in 1983) and cruise ship dock. Now with its mouth sanded over, it’s a place to kayak, swim, SUP, learn to sail — the water is protected from the winds that make this stretch of the Columbia a windsurfing mecca.
A new trail along the basin passes water sport rental shops and food trucks on its way to the unimaginatively named but very fun Event Site. Bathroooms, lawn, tables and great people-watching here. Lock the bikes ot the rack, and hang out a while.
Wade out to the sandbar (see the map) which gets larger as summer progresses. It was formed in 2006 from debris off Mt. Hood flowing down the Hood River and into the Columbia. An instant park, it’s one of my favorite beaches in the gorge. Dogs, by the way, run unrestricted here: leashes aren’t required.
From the Event Site, keep west on the bike trail and find a cute little kid beach, a climbing structure and wall, and good places to eat, facing the river on Portway Avenue: Pfriem Family Brewers, Solstice Wood Fire Cafe, Stoked Roasters and Coffee House.
From there, keep west and bike out to the Hook, where windsurfers launch from. Across the river are the blue-roofed buildings of the Spring Creek National Fish Hatchery — a premier windsurfing spot for experts. Underwood Mountain is the huge shield volcano that looms above it. It tops off at 2,755 feet. To the west of the Hook is Wells Island, which wasn’t an island until river levels rose in 1938 from the dam. It’s a nice place to paddle around in a rented kayak, with a large sandy beach on its west side.
Come back the way you rode, or contine on the route featured in my book, pages 180–184, which takes you to a clifftop park west of town.
Stay: My favorite Hood River lodging is Westcliff Lodge. It’s a midcentury, family run motel in a private, 5.5-acre mini park atop the cliffs. Views are amazing. Stroll the oak-shaded cliffs, and find your own private rocks to sit on, away from the crowds. Lawn and picnic areas facing the river make a great place to bring take out food/wine/beer and relax at day’s end.
On your second day, take a scenic ride-with-lots-of-stops up the Hood River Valley. Wine tasting, alpacas, lavender, hikes, fruit storage sheds, fruit stands, old cemeteries and scenic barns….Here’s one of the highlights:
The driving route in my book (pp. 173–179) is a more off-the-beaten path modification of the wonderful Hood River Fruit Loop.
- Get Columbia Gorge Getaways at Portland-area booksellers including Powell’s, Broadway Books, Wallace Books, A Children’s Place, Portland Audubon, plus New Seasons Markets: Williams, Fisher’s Landing, Happy Valley, Concordia, Nyberg Rivers, Orenco; at Amazon, where sellers include Powell’s and my company, Towns to Trails Media (free shipping with Amazon Prime).
