A link between The Dalles and Mosier is the latest piece in the Towns to Trails route that aims to connect Gorge communities. The journey is long
Love connection: The Mosier to The Dalles Trail Concept Plan seeks to connect Oregon’s Mosier Plateau (seen here) to the Memaloose Hills and eventually to Rowena Crest and Tom McCall Point Preserve to the east. Photo: Cate Hotchkiss
By Richard Benner. April 21, 2025. Is there anything more ancient than a trail? Trails were the first infrastructure of civilization.
I imagine the first encounters between homo sapiens happened on a trail.
Intersecting trails were the seeds of settlement. One could make a case that we could reduce unwanted aloneness by building more trails.
Which makes it all the more curious that while there are many trails around the Columbia River Gorge, there is no single trail that unifies the entire area.
At least not yet.
When it was established in 1986, the Columbia Gorge Commission envisioned Gorge residents and visitors walking a trail on both the Oregon and Washington sides of the mighty river, extending the full 85-mile distance from one end of the Gorge to the other.
Aside from hopeful discussions, however, the idea laid more or less dormant until the Friends of the Columbia Gorge launched the Gorge Towns to Trails initiative in 2011. The concept imagined a world-class collection of trails encircling the Columbia Gorge.
“The 200-mile loop trail network would connect communities with recreation, promote alternative transportation options and create contiguous parcels of protected lands that benefit wildlife,” according to the Friends.
Proposed Gorge Towns to Trails route: Map: Friends of the Columbia Gorge
Project participants found inspiration in the great walking trails of the world—the Inca Trail, Lycian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, Appalachian National Scenic Trail, the Oregon Trail. But while these are fabulous for hiking, but they’re usually remote from towns and accommodations.
Taking a cue from great treks in Europe and England, the vision for Gorge Towns to Trails connects towns in the Gorge, with people walking from town to town to refuge, staying the night and enjoying conversation with residents and fellow trekkers.
There’s no shortage of scenic attractions along the proposed route. These include the Washougal Waterfront Trail, Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Bridge of the Gods, White Salmon Bluff Connector Trail, Lyle Cherry Orchard Trail, The Dalles Riverfront Trail, Mosier Plateau Trail and Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail.
But the envisioned trail faces daunting obstacles.
How might trail builders gain access to private lands? Owners worry about trespass and trash left behind. Topography is often steep and unstable on the Oregon side, in part the result of shallow colliding plates between Portland and The Dalles. Who would pay for construction and maintenance of the trail?
Pathways
Overall, the project is like “working through a complicated puzzle,” according to Nick Kraemer, senior planner at Friends of the Gorge Land Trust.
“Just between Mosier and The Dalles, we’re (dealing with) the Friends of the Gorge Land Trust land, Oregon Department of Transportation Historic Columbia River Highway right of way, the Forest Service, state parks, Nature Conservancy and Wasco County,” says Kraemer. “And all of the decisions need to meet National Scenic Area standards.”
That’s not even counting private landowners on other parts of the trail.
In 2024, Friends of the Columbia Gorge, the U.S. Forest Service and Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area announced plans to engage the community in the development a new link in the trail on the Oregon side of the Gorge connecting the town of Mosier to The Dalles.
The plan includes specific recommendations for potential trail types, trail access points and trail alignments connecting across a patchwork of public lands and other lands held in conservation between Mosier and The Dalles.
Together with nonprofits and other organizations, the Mosier to The Dalles Trail Concept Plan is being convened by Parametrix, a community consulting firm with offices around the West.
Getting it together: Pieces of the Gorge Towns to Trails project are already in place, like this path across the Mosier Plateau in Oregon. Photo: Monique Trevett
In January, scores of people with a broad range of interests, from hikers, equestrians and mountain bikers to those needing mobility devices, gathered at the Mosier Grange.
Essential questions quickly emerged. Where should the trail be routed? What makes an enjoyable trail experience?
At first, the questions didn’t seem troublesome for a group of genial people.
Quickly, however, details dominated every conversation.
Conflicts popped up in nearly every comment.
What happens when a couple of hikers encounter people on horses on a narrow trail? Where can people park their cars to see the profusion of wildflowers on Oregon’s Memaloose Trail on a spring Saturday when there’s room for only five cars at Memaloose Overlook? What if parking for 40 cars is available, but 200 yards across a meadow is the lek (a place animals use for courting) of a ruffed grouse and a spring that’s home to western pond turtles? Can Native Americans find peace for several days at a vision quest site on a low promontory near the Mosier Twin Tunnels?
Among thoughtful and imaginative answers were seasonal closures of trails, separate trails for uses likely to conflict, dispersed access points to avoid overcrowding and shuttle services to reduce auto traffic.
A major problem loomed above all the good ideas—funding. How can agencies and nonprofits pay for trail improvements, maintenance, parking areas and law enforcement?
Participants recognized that fees were likely to supplement funds from agencies. Not even “taxes” on accommodations in cities and towns in the National Scenic Area were off the table.
There will be hearings and opportunities for public comment at different locations in Gorge towns in the coming months.
“We don’t have a date set, but I would say June probably,” says Kraemer. That meeting will likely take place at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and Museum in The Dalles.
As for a target completion date for the Mosier to The Dalles link, or even the entire loop, there isn’t one.
“I like to relate it to the Oregon Coast Trail,” says Kraemer. “It’s an ongoing task.”
There is more work ahead.
