Bridge of the Gods — Attraction in Hood River

Geologists have determined that debris from several distinct landslides in the same area overlap, forming what is called the Cascades landslide complex. The Bonneville landslide was the most recent, and perhaps the largest landslide of the complex. Studies to understand the nature of the landslide complex and to map the lobes of individual landslide events were undertaken during the 1960s and 1970s. The composite nature of the landslide complex may explain the early discrepancies between date estimates of the Bonneville Landslide.

Native American legend Native American Lor contains numerous legends to explain the eruptions of Mount Saint Helens and other volcanoes in the Cascade Volcanic Arc The most famous of these is the Bridge of the Gods legend told by the Klikitas. In their tale, the chief of all the gods, Tyhee Saghalie and his two sons, Pahto (also called Klickitat) and Wy'east, traveled down the Columbia River from the Far North in search of a suitable area to settle.

They came upon an area that is now called The Dalles and thought they had never seen a land so beautiful. The sons quarreled over the land and to solve the dispute, their father shot two arrows from his mighty bow; one to the north and the other to the south. Pahto followed the arrow to the north and settled there while Wy'east did the same for the arrow to the south. Saghalie then built Tanmahawis, the Bridge of the Gods, so his family could meet periodically.

When the two sons of Saghalie both fell in love with a beautiful maiden named Loowit, she could not choose between them. The two young chiefs fought over her, burying villages and forests in the process. The area was devastated and the earth shook so violently that the huge bridge fell into the river, creating the Cascade Mountains of the Columbia River Gorge.

For punishment, Saghalie struck down each of the lovers and transformed them into great mountains where they fell. W,east with his head lifted in pride, became the volcano known today as Mount Hood, and Pahto, with his head bent toward his fallen love, was turned into Mount Adams. The fair Loowit became Mount St. Helen's, known to the Klickitats as Louwala-Clough which means "smoking or fire mountain" in their language (they called the...

Contrary to other reviews here, the Bridge of the Gods does not offer, "a salad bar and even have gluten free buns for their burgers." The bridge is one of two crossings of the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington states that are available to motorists traveling through the Columbia River Gorge, the other alternative is the bridge at Hood River. Both of these are toll bridges. Posted rates vary based upon number of axles and other various criteria, but are not posted when entering the bridge from the Washington State side.

The Bridge of the Gods is open to both car, truck and pedestrian foot traffic, however both share the rather narrow roadway and even though the posted (and electronically monitored) speed limit is 15 MPH, crossing on foot can be treacherous. Those with small children , strollers, bikes or other devices might want to choose safer alternatives for crossing the bridge.

An excellent vantage point for pictures of the bridge is located on the west end of the island in the Port of Cascade Locks Marine Park (accessible by foot after parking in the main park near the museum and crossing the footbridge.) Thunder Island on the west end of the main park road offers another photo alternative as well.

Access to the bridge on the Oregon side is from the west end of Cascade Locks and is well marked. On the Washington State side, the entrance is roughly 2 miles west of Stevenson and is well...

We were exploring the Columbia River Gorge on a Thursday in August while vacationing in the area and saw the bridge in a map. We stopped in Cascade Locks to take a boat ride on the Sternwheeler (which drove us up under the bridge and back), had lunch at Brigham Fish Market then walked over to the bridge.

We walked across to the Washington side and back over again. There was vehicle traffic but it wasn’t super busy. There are no designated walkways for pedestrians so you’re sharing the road and the cars were courteous of being in there. We stayed over as far as we could to the railing. The view of the river from midway across was beautiful even though it was a cloudy day. There was another couple walking ahead of us. We chatted with them a bit. They were friendly. We passed a couple who looked like they may have been hiking the trail too.

It’s not a far or strenuous walk. Google tells me 1,858 feet total. We don’t go the whole way to the very end of the Washington side so maybe it’s 1/2 a mile round trip plus add in distance from where ever you parked. Just be mindful of the cars and...