Tom McCall Preserve — Attraction in The Dalles

This Nature Conservancy Preserve protects a variety of wildflowers and wildlife. There are great views of the river, bluffs and mountains. Free paved and gravel parking along the loop. Limited free gravel roadside parking. Looks like it fills up on some wildflower weekends. No toilet or water provided. They may have an outhouse in the viewpoint loop in the summer. One bench inside the parking loop. Dogs are not allowed on the trails. The trails shown on Google maps don't match actual trails. Take a photo of posted map or use map photo I posted here. Trail widening damage in areas. Great views from both trails. Plateau Trail/ Shasha Loop is dirt or gravel with protruding rocks. Some poison oak near the trail. There are signs at the intersections with Shasha Loop. In mid April we saw a variety of wildflowers as well as vultures, an osprey, and a meadowlark. The Tom McCall Point Trail surface is dirt or gravel with water bars, steps and protruding rocks. Some poison oak intruding into the trail as you get higher. It is almost all uphill. The sign says it is two miles up, but it seems longer. The trail has some unofficial side branches but the official trail is usually obvious. We saw turkey vultures, a variety of other birds, a squirrel and a fence lizard. Someone else reported a rattlesnake, but we...

Popular trail that winds through huge open meadows mixed with oak groves, filled with outlandish wildflower displays. The seeming boundlessness of the flowers is stunning and the open vistas of the Columbia Gorge are beautiful. The trail up to McCall point is easily accessible from the Rowena Crest overlook and the hiking is moderate with a few steep sections. The only things to worry about are running into other hikers whilst gazing at the flowers and getting into some poison oak. If you aren't practiced at identifying poison oak, I'd recommend refreshing your memory before you head up this trail. Stay alert anytime you enter a grove of trees, which seems to be the only place it grows here.

We visited the second weekend in May, which is prime wildflower season, but apparently the word is out, so lots of other people had the same idea. It was quite crowded and the parking lot was overflowing onto the historic highway in both directions. We encountered hundreds of other people hiking and taking it all in. It did empty out a bit the further up we got towards the point. That said, it was still totally worthwhile and great. It was cool to see so many families of diverse...

A great place for a day hike with stunning views of the Columbia Gorge near Rowena.

The trailhead is across the parking lot from the Rowena Crest Viewpoint and is managed by the Nature Conservancy.

I started my hike on the shorter trail to the plateau across a very windy and treeless plain toward the Columbia Gorge.

The rocky and uneven trail is about a mile with a optional loop of a quarter of a mile. It will take a couple of hours to hike the two miles or a little longer with the loop.

The plateau offers great views of the basalt cliffs along the Columbia River and Rowena Crest with a number of mounds across the landscape.

A longer steeper point trail is about four miiles long and climbs over one thousand feet with great views of Mt. Hood.

Located on Highway 84 near Rowena at the Mosier exit in the Columbia Gorge and is about 64 miles from Portland.

A nice windy place to hike in the Columbia Gorge with great views of basalt cliffs, the Columbia River and rare plants that bloom with amazing colors...