Hood River Penstock Flume Pipeline Trailhead — Attraction in Hood River

Rough but passable one lane dirt road to access a small paved parking lot. No fee to park. Some posted photos show outhouse, but none was there on a mid April weekday. River access. Two rustic picnic tables above the lot near the railroad tracks. The trail starts at the far end of the lot. Go past the gate. You have to cross the railroad tracks and continue upstream along the tracks (despite signs saying the tracks are private property). The tracks are still in use. We saw a Mount Hood Railroad train go by slowly. The trail leaves the railroad tracks to the right. This portion of trail is dirt or gravel. Eventually, you see a covered pipe end. It had a large mouth painted on it when we were there. The trail continues to the right of the pipe. The dirt trail takes you to the pipeline. The trail from this point on consists of expanded steel mesh tread that might be unsuitable for dogs. There are handrails and fencing on the sides. There are nice views of the river and riparian vegetation. The trail just ends with a small chain across the end. There are signs posted along the way from the Columbia Land Trust saying day use only, no camping, no fires, closed dusk to dawn. There are no...

We were in hood river to check out the Mitchel Point Tunnel, and thought we would check this out too. It is a crazy walk/hike. You will hike past the 'keep gate clear' at the end of the parking area (small'ish parking area), and then cross an active train track. You will walk alond the train track for 5 minutes. Once on the main train (well maintained path) you will walk about 15 minutes until you get to the 'pipeline'. This pipeline used to funnel water from the Powerdale dam to a downstream powerhouse (building in the parking lot) that generated electricity for Hood River... but it also blocked Salmon runs, and because the pipes were made of wood, they were kinda leaky. The original pipeline remains, and there is an elevated walkway above the pipeline, you will walk on this for 15 minutes until it abruptly ends. Many other mention it's not great for a dog hike. The elevated walkway is quite difficult on their paws/pads (see photo). It's about 40 minutes out, 40 minutes back. We were there in April, at the end of the trail there were LOTS of box elder bugs on the elevated walkway rail......

First off, do Not use google for directions. It took me to private land with apple orchards and tried to get me down a narrow grassy dirt road. Take the first right, after the stop signs at bottom of hill, head up and through the open fenced gate area. A few potholes but my camry made it fine. A few speed bumps and a paved parking lot at the bottom. Follow to the left theres a dirt trail, then cross the railroad, follow trail on right and a larger dirt trail beers off into the brush near the river. This takes you to the catwalk and wonderful views. The waterfall has so much overgrowth you couldnt see it. The posts by others made this seem much more difficult, but it was a basic trail. Lots of people heading out as we were getting back to the car. Careful leaving, the...