Day Trips
After the normal weekend I want to do day trips to hike to various locations.
* Saint Johns Bridge views. -- Planned for Monday, Oct. 25.
* OMSI -- Planned for Tuesday, Oct. 26.
* Coopey Falls and Cape Horn viewpoint from Angel's Rest -- Planned for Wednesday, Oct. 27, arrive 6 a.m. with spare key and cellphone charged and tested, both cameras charged.
This will be a two-fer--
* I can get views of Coopey Creek and above Coopey Falls. The best view is from the convent, but that would require permission and arrangements.
* At Angel's Rest I can get a good view of the Columbia River and should have a view of Cape Horn.
https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/Coopey_Falls
Coopey Falls is a 150 foot horsetail type falls in the Columbia River Gorge on Coopey Creek.
Most people who see Coopey Falls see a very limited view of it on the way up the Angels Rest Trail. The viewpoint is at the first obvious stopping point along the way. There is a spur trail down to the left just past this open area that takes you down to the top of the falls. While this doesn't improve your view of Coopey Falls, it gives you a nice vantage point of Coopey Creek and upstream toward Upper Coopey Falls.
The base of falls is on the property of a Catholic convent. Hikers will spot the farmyard of this convent at the bottom of the talus slopes that they traverse in the early sections of the hike. Given the proper forewarning and permission, you can arrange a better view of the falls from the property itself.
History
Coopey Creek is named for Charles Coopey, a Brisith born tailor who settled in Portland and was one of the founders of the Portland Woolen Mill in St. Johns. Coopey owned 1200 acres of land around Wahkeena Falls, Multnomah Creek and Devils Rest, which he called "Eagle Eyrie". In the summer of 1915, Coopey gave permission for a portion of the Larch Mountain Trail to be built across land he owned. According to the Trails Club of Oregon, Coopey furnished the coffee for the first hike to Devils Rest, done by the club in 1918.
Cooper, a tailor by profession, had a vision of a textile village with an industry that would utilize the constant waterpower supply for spinning and weaving and the pure water of Wahkeena Falls (which he owned) for wool scouring. He also applied to the State Engineer in Salem for an application to appropriate water from Multnomah and Peterson Creeks for power development purposes. The cost of developing the power was estimated at $20,000.
In 1921, Coopey built a 20 horsepower generator on the creek to light a sign promoting Oregon 1925 Expostion. According to an article in The Oregonian, Coopey "conceived the idea of displaying the insignia of Oregon's brilliant exposition for all America by producing a truly hydro-electric sign bearing the figures "1925" right in front of his summer cottage where all can see as they motor swiftly by. The power that generates the motor from which the electricity is produced is taken from the falls at a point 60 feet below a dam that forms a beautiful silvery lake just a few feet from the highway. This water is led to the powerhouse by means of a 12-inch pipe where a water wheel operates a 20-horsepower generator. From this plant 750 Incandescent lights can be produced 24 hours each day."
Before Coopey owned the property along the creek it was owned by the Luscher family. Walter R. Horton, who moved to Bridal Veil in 1889, recalls he and his friends used to call the creek Ben Luscher Creek.
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Angels Rest is an exposed bluff on the western end of the Columbia River Gorge. The platy andesite that composes this promontory is part of a million-year-old lava flow from Larch Mountain, a member of the Boring Lava Field. The summit is characterized by a long, rocky spine surrounded on three sides by cliffs, boasting a striking 270 degree view! While you can't see any of the Cascade volcanoes from the top, you do get great vantages of Beacon Rock, Silver Star Mountain and many other landmarks. The real draw, however, is the perspective of the Columbia River below - like you're on a balcony over a great auditorium. Its 1500 foot prominence and its proximity to the Columbia River give you the false sensation that you could dive from Angels Rest to the water below!
Getting to this precipice takes a relatively short hike (2.4 miles one-way) with an easy to moderately-steep ascent.
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From Portland, drive east on I-84 to Exit 28 for Bridal Veil.
Go 0.4 miles after exiting the freeway, and make a sharp right turn on the Historic Highway at the Angels Rest Trailhead. If this parking area is full, drive a little farther west, and turn left into the second parking area for the Angels Rest Trail.
From the east:
From westbound I-84, take Ainsworth State Park Exit #35 and follow the Historic Columbia River Highway for 7.1 miles (11.4 km).
Parking can be a problem. Try to get there early (before 8:30 a.m. on weekends), or hike during the week. Park only in designated spots at one of the two parking areas.
Day use only: open 6:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Closest restrooms at the Bridal Veil Trailhead, less than one mile west
Best not to hike the Angels Rest Trail under icy, windy, or very wet conditions
* Castle Creek Canyon, planned for Thursday, Oct. 28.
https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/Castle_Canyon_Hike
Start point: Castle Canyon TrailheadRoad.JPG
End point: Pinnacles Viewpoint
Hike Type: In and out
Distance: 2.2 miles
Elevation gain: 840 feet
High Point: 2,440 feet
Difficulty: Moderate
Seasons: All year
The forested slopes of the Cascades often present themselves as a steep but relatively smooth-faced carpet as the tall conifers conceal the worn and rugged outcrops below the canopy. The vertical faces, spires, and fins of the Pinnacles at Castle Canyon, not really a "canyon" at all, are mostly hidden to observers from across the valley, but represent a fascinating collection of eroded volcanic formations that is well worth a visit, either as a destination on its own or as an adjunct to one of the many longer hikes in the area. The hike length can be doubled by parking at the West Zigzag Trailhead and hiking along the mossy, closed off section of East Mountain Drive (FR 1819) to the Castle Canyon Trailhead.
Walk 15 yards down the road from the pullout to take up the Castle Canyon Trail #765. Head into Douglas-fir, cedar, hemlock woods, with an Oregon grape, oxalis, salal and sword fern carpet. Cross an old road bed and a local trail. Reach the wilderness permit box, where vine maples, alders, and big-leaf maples form a leafy canopy. The trail winds up to a junction with another local trail leading off to the right. Pass an old Motor Vehicles Prohibited sign on a tree. Large stumps in the woods attest to the primeval forest that once was. The trail heads to the right and rises more steeply in a series of seven short switchbacks. After this, pass a small clearing and head up along the rocky spine of the ridge. There are gullies to the left and right. The spine steepens and the trail drops to the right. Ascend to the right of a rocky palisade on a rooty trail. These rocks are composed of fused pyroclastic material, or volcanic breccia. The trail reaches the higher outcropping and heads up below it. There’s a fantastic rampart up to the right as well. Rise to the left past an old Trail Not Maintained sign and switchback up to the top of a craggy palisade. Below this point, the Pinnacles Viewpoint, spurs lend easier access to the spine of this outcrop, with views across the Zigzag Valley to Hunchback Mountain. It is a temptation for many visitors to scramble about on the formations, but take care, especially on wet days, and wear proper footware.
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Castle Canyon Trailhead
Latitude: 45.33780
Longitude: -121.91565
Maps: Oregon Hikers Maps Google Maps
Elevation: 1605 feet
Driving time from Portland: 65 minutes
Drive Highway 26 east. From the last traffic light in Sandy, it’s 18.9 miles before you turn left on E. Littlebrook Lane in Rhododendron.
After a few yards, turn left again and, in 0.1 miles, the road bears right on E. Arlie Mitchell Road.
After 0.2 miles, bear left on FR 1819, the Barlow Road Route.
Drive 0.3 miles on this potholed gravel road, lined with getaway cabins, to a pullout on the left just before the trail sign for Castle Canyon. Don’t block the driveway just beyond this pullout.
* The Parker-Schram Railroad Car and Pedestrian Underpass in Oregon City, Coalca Landing and Balancing Rock south of Oregon City just north of New Era, Oregon, planned for Friday, Oct. 29.
Tibbitts took a photo of it (3067) but I don't own the negative.
21194 Pacific Hwy E, Oregon City, OR 97045, United States
South of Pearson's Tavern/Art Gallery
Willamette River Side of 99E
WPA created a wall in the vicinity of volcanic stone.
Also known as Coalcas Pillar.
Exit 9 on I-205 to Oregon City.
On the way there go to Highway 99E and Railroad Ave. (see below) Park right next to the railroad overpass and get out and take pictures. Check out the pedestrian underpass.
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Then get back on highway 99E.
Be sure to veer right into the Willamette Falls vista. Park, take pictures.
Then get back on highway 99E again but turn to Kanemah to 3rd Ave., then at north end, up Ganong to 4th Ave. Go all the way down 4th Avenue to the park. From their hike to the bluff to get some good shots of the Willamette. I own negative 3998 by Tibbitts which is a view of the Willamette in the vicinity of Oregon City. I can't find the right perspective, but this will be one attempt.
Drive about 6 miles south on 99 E.
Go past Chip & Dale's Iron works and ASA Construction.
If you see General Trailer Parts or reach South End Road in New Era, Oregon you've gone too far!
Pearson's Art Gallery is on the left.
Go there to look around, buy something maybe, ask about access to Balancing Rock. Also ask if you can park there while looking around.
Across the street and to the south is Coalca Landing. This is state property, a park per se (just not developed). There is a run down parking lot but no parking allowed. The hike north from the northwest corner of the parking lot might be interesting. The "park" may be closed to parking but it may still be okay to explore. The adjacent private property for sale seems to claim that owners there can use the property but no one else (strange). (see below).
Here is what one person said about visiting Balancing Rock:
The person parked on a pullout beside hwy 99 just West of the bluffs the pillar is on. "We had to bushwhack up to the top of the bluff and fight the vine maples, loose rocks, and very, very abundant poison oak. There is no trail from the side we went up, so it's slow going, but it is totally doable."
Vintage pictures show the rock is clearly on the East side of the highway, on the side of Pearson's Art Gallery.
Seeing the rock by hiking from the bottom seems difficult to me. It is probably not private property, but it is on a bluff. Might be more appropriate to drive down to New Era and then up South End Road. Maybe there is an access point from there. However, looking at the roads, they all seem to draw short of the bluff with private property ringing the area.
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https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC4A566_coalcas-pillar-aka-the-balancing-rock-above-99e?guid=d9ef58b5-7f63-4fa6-841c-6b4b4da2aad4
Coalca's Pillar is up near the top of the bluff. It's really a basalt plug, not a balancing rock....
They say you can see Coalca from the parking lot. Certainly it is a direct shot except for the trees.
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Coalca landing.
https://cyclotram.blogspot.com/2012/11/coalca-landing-expedition.html
Coalca Landing is a long, narrow strip of land on the east bank of the Willamette, with the river on one side, and Highway 99E and a major rail line on the other side. The entrance is fairly low key and easy to miss. Heading south on 99E, look for a railroad crossing just south of the Pearson's Art Gallery (a former historic tavern), with a few mailboxes out front. The aforementioned tiny State Parks sign is right there at the turn, but it's very little help as it's so small you won't really see it until you're practically past it. Anyway, once you're across the railroad tracks, the park's oddly enormous parking lot is off to your right, while directly ahead and off to the left are some residential driveways. The description to someone's Flickr photo of the park indicates the turnoff is near highway milepost 17, and a blog post I ran across has directions plus some great photos. Or if you prefer to go by GPS, I have coordinates of about 45.307810, -122.662881 for the parking lot, if that helps at all.
The park sits at a scenic stretch of the river known as the Willamette Narrows, much of which is part of the Greenway system (including three even more obscure areas on the far side of the river, "Rock Island Landing", "Pete's Mountain Landing", and "Peach Cove Landing".) Other parts of the area are owned by Metro. The obvious potential of the area led a 2009 University of Oregon design class to dream up a few proposals to enhance the site into a full-fledged state park, but as far as I know nothing's actually in the works. As the state's recent Willamette Greenway Parklands Strategy points out, the entire greenway system has been in a sort of political and financial limbo ever since the initial burst of enthusiasm faded in the late 1970s.
This is by no means the only scenic spot along the Willamette, but Coalca Landing has a couple of unusual points of interest:
If you know where to look, you can spot the once-famous Coalca Pillar, our fair metropolitan area's very own balancing rock. If you look across highway 99E and uphill, you'll notice a rock that looks like it's sorta-balancing high above the highway. It might take a minute to see it; it's not quite as dramatic as the balancing rocks you may have seen in Road Runner cartoons. Still, this rock was once a big local tourist attraction, back in the days when 99E was the main road into Portland from points south. Back then the area been logged relatively recently and trees were smaller, so rock formations like this were easier to spot.
It was also an era when access to the pillar was apparently much easier than it is today. The library's Oregonian database lists numerous hikes and climbing trips to Coalca Pillar during the early part of the 20th century, but that seems to have tapered off prior to World War II, and I haven't come across any contemporary accounts of anyone visiting it.
The rock's name comes from a local Indian legend. A circa-1898 melodramatic account of the story comes to us from a Southern Pacific Railroad guide to sights along their Shasta line as it travelled the West Coast:
Coalca's Pillar.
SOME three miles south of Oregon City, the Shasta Route passes below a rock-cliff, two hundred feet in height and standing out boldly toward the Willamette river. Its top is a level plateau, five acres in extent, which can be reached only by an almost impassable trail up the mountain side. Surmounting the edge of the cliff stands the wonderful stone pillar which our photographer has so successfully transferred to his camera. Coalca's Pillar is twenty feet high and weighs probably sixty tons. Its supporting stem or base is eight feet high and only thirty-five inches in diameter! While the passerby marvels at its equipoise and the geologist speculates over its formation, the chief interest in this strange monument centers in the Indian legend therewith connected.
At the Great Tumwater, Willamette falls, once dwelt Chelko, a famed and thrifty chief of the Clackamas, who held a trust on all the adjacent fishing grounds. All neighboring tribes paid Chelko tribute for the privilege of his fishing preserves, although salmon are said to have been then so plentiful below the falls that Indians walked across the Willamette on their backs.
Nearby lived the Molallas, whose stalwart young chief, Coalca, loved Nawalla, the only daughter of Chelko. But the daughter of a salmon king looked not with favor on the suit of a chief of an ordinary deer-hunting tribe, who lived on Molalla grasshoppers and jerked venison. Nor did her father favor the wooing of Coalca, and with the toe of his moccasin expressed energetic disgust whenever the latter appeared to pay court to Nawalla.
Coalca was resolved to have the maiden at all risks, and at dark of one moon, when the old chief was spearing salmon, he, with three of his braves, swooped down on Chelko : s tepee and carried away Nawalla. That night there was dancing and great joy in the Molalla village over the great capture and equal lamentation among the Clackamas, when was discovered the abduction of their princess by a rival tribe. The Clackamas braves donned their feathers and war paint and the tocsin was sounded. For months waged a bitter war; Nawalla, an unwilling prisoner, died of broken heart ; Coalca's band slowly pressed back the Clackamas and finally determined to capture their village. Stealthily they trailed among the rocky cliffs and for the night camped on the plateau upon which our pillar now stands. Here, in restful security, they tarried before dealing the; final death blow to Chelko and his tribe. But they contended with an older and craftier warrior, who wearied not nor slept. Before the morn Chelko scaled the rocky pathway, drove the Molallas over the cliff, and permitted not one of them to escape death.
The Indian legend further recites that the Great Spirit, sorely grieved at the untimely death of the beautiful Nawalla, wreaked vengeance upon Coalca and the three braves by turning the four Molalla warriors into pillars of stone and placing them at the edge of the cliff, exposed to the heat of summer and the storms of winter - that their stony forms might be an awful warning to passing Indians for all ages. But in time the heart of the Great Spirit softened to the three Molallas, who had but done Coalca's bidding in the abduction of Nawalla. Their spirits were released and permitted to go to the happy hunting grounds; three pillars were thrown to the bottom of the precipice and form now a part of the broken rock along the Shasta rails.
The pillar sits on ODOT land, technically outside the state park proper (nevertheless it is public property, not private). The state bought the land in June 1950 when Highway 99E was being widened. The linked Oregonian article indicates the state considered putting in a highway wayside near the pillar, but that seems to have never come to pass. The lack of parking might help explain why the pillar has been mostly forgotten in recent decades.
To find the second point of interest, you'll need to locate the trail heading north/downstream from the parking lot, and follow it a short distance. The trail passes several mysterious concrete structures, or remains of structures. From the info I've been able to gather so far (see, for example, this 2005 survey of the Highway 99E "green corridor"), the park seems to have once been the site of a sawmill owned by the old Doernbecher Manufacturing furniture company. Logs arrived by log raft, were pulled out of the river and milled, and the milled wood was then shipped by rail to the furniture plant near Portland's Hollywood District, around 28th & Sandy.
Apparently the Southern Pacific Railroad once had a station named "Coalca" somewhere in the vicinity, and there's still a rail siding by that name just north of the park.
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https://www.orcity.org/planning/hwy-99e-pacific-hwy-historic-corridor-rock-wall-coalcas-pillar-balancing-rock
99E and RR ave.:
This underpass provides a tunnel under the railroad for the traffic on the highway. It is constructed of concrete and includes a stylized deck railing above the tunnel along the tracks. Pilasters rise at the openings of the tunnel. The underpass extends northward as a retaining wall on which the tracks sit. At the north end of the underpass wall is a pedestrian tunnel.
Statement of Significance: This underpass was constructed in 1936-1937 by the Parker-Schram contracting firm. The project, funded in part by federal relief funds available during the Great Depression, was intended to improve the old Pacific Highway by providing a safe crossing of the railroad by going under the tracks through a tunnel. Because the highway curved at that spot, the tunnel is also curved. To make room for the improved highway and the underpass, 28 feet of the bluff was cut back. The design is somewhat stylized, using elements that are associated with the then-popular Art Deco style. The total cost of the project was $289,000. The underpass is virtually intact and is an excellent example of a public works transportation project taken on by the federal relief programs in the 1930s. As such, it should be considered eligible as a contributing resource in a historic district .
* Saint Johns Bridge views. -- Planned for Monday, Oct. 25.
* OMSI -- Planned for Tuesday, Oct. 26.
* Coopey Falls and Cape Horn viewpoint from Angel's Rest -- Planned for Wednesday, Oct. 27, arrive 6 a.m. with spare key and cellphone charged and tested, both cameras charged.
This will be a two-fer--
* I can get views of Coopey Creek and above Coopey Falls. The best view is from the convent, but that would require permission and arrangements.
* At Angel's Rest I can get a good view of the Columbia River and should have a view of Cape Horn.
https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/Coopey_Falls
Coopey Falls is a 150 foot horsetail type falls in the Columbia River Gorge on Coopey Creek.
Most people who see Coopey Falls see a very limited view of it on the way up the Angels Rest Trail. The viewpoint is at the first obvious stopping point along the way. There is a spur trail down to the left just past this open area that takes you down to the top of the falls. While this doesn't improve your view of Coopey Falls, it gives you a nice vantage point of Coopey Creek and upstream toward Upper Coopey Falls.
The base of falls is on the property of a Catholic convent. Hikers will spot the farmyard of this convent at the bottom of the talus slopes that they traverse in the early sections of the hike. Given the proper forewarning and permission, you can arrange a better view of the falls from the property itself.
History
Coopey Creek is named for Charles Coopey, a Brisith born tailor who settled in Portland and was one of the founders of the Portland Woolen Mill in St. Johns. Coopey owned 1200 acres of land around Wahkeena Falls, Multnomah Creek and Devils Rest, which he called "Eagle Eyrie". In the summer of 1915, Coopey gave permission for a portion of the Larch Mountain Trail to be built across land he owned. According to the Trails Club of Oregon, Coopey furnished the coffee for the first hike to Devils Rest, done by the club in 1918.
Cooper, a tailor by profession, had a vision of a textile village with an industry that would utilize the constant waterpower supply for spinning and weaving and the pure water of Wahkeena Falls (which he owned) for wool scouring. He also applied to the State Engineer in Salem for an application to appropriate water from Multnomah and Peterson Creeks for power development purposes. The cost of developing the power was estimated at $20,000.
In 1921, Coopey built a 20 horsepower generator on the creek to light a sign promoting Oregon 1925 Expostion. According to an article in The Oregonian, Coopey "conceived the idea of displaying the insignia of Oregon's brilliant exposition for all America by producing a truly hydro-electric sign bearing the figures "1925" right in front of his summer cottage where all can see as they motor swiftly by. The power that generates the motor from which the electricity is produced is taken from the falls at a point 60 feet below a dam that forms a beautiful silvery lake just a few feet from the highway. This water is led to the powerhouse by means of a 12-inch pipe where a water wheel operates a 20-horsepower generator. From this plant 750 Incandescent lights can be produced 24 hours each day."
Before Coopey owned the property along the creek it was owned by the Luscher family. Walter R. Horton, who moved to Bridal Veil in 1889, recalls he and his friends used to call the creek Ben Luscher Creek.
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Angels Rest is an exposed bluff on the western end of the Columbia River Gorge. The platy andesite that composes this promontory is part of a million-year-old lava flow from Larch Mountain, a member of the Boring Lava Field. The summit is characterized by a long, rocky spine surrounded on three sides by cliffs, boasting a striking 270 degree view! While you can't see any of the Cascade volcanoes from the top, you do get great vantages of Beacon Rock, Silver Star Mountain and many other landmarks. The real draw, however, is the perspective of the Columbia River below - like you're on a balcony over a great auditorium. Its 1500 foot prominence and its proximity to the Columbia River give you the false sensation that you could dive from Angels Rest to the water below!
Getting to this precipice takes a relatively short hike (2.4 miles one-way) with an easy to moderately-steep ascent.
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From Portland, drive east on I-84 to Exit 28 for Bridal Veil.
Go 0.4 miles after exiting the freeway, and make a sharp right turn on the Historic Highway at the Angels Rest Trailhead. If this parking area is full, drive a little farther west, and turn left into the second parking area for the Angels Rest Trail.
From the east:
From westbound I-84, take Ainsworth State Park Exit #35 and follow the Historic Columbia River Highway for 7.1 miles (11.4 km).
Parking can be a problem. Try to get there early (before 8:30 a.m. on weekends), or hike during the week. Park only in designated spots at one of the two parking areas.
Day use only: open 6:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Closest restrooms at the Bridal Veil Trailhead, less than one mile west
Best not to hike the Angels Rest Trail under icy, windy, or very wet conditions
* Castle Creek Canyon, planned for Thursday, Oct. 28.
https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/Castle_Canyon_Hike
Start point: Castle Canyon TrailheadRoad.JPG
End point: Pinnacles Viewpoint
Hike Type: In and out
Distance: 2.2 miles
Elevation gain: 840 feet
High Point: 2,440 feet
Difficulty: Moderate
Seasons: All year
The forested slopes of the Cascades often present themselves as a steep but relatively smooth-faced carpet as the tall conifers conceal the worn and rugged outcrops below the canopy. The vertical faces, spires, and fins of the Pinnacles at Castle Canyon, not really a "canyon" at all, are mostly hidden to observers from across the valley, but represent a fascinating collection of eroded volcanic formations that is well worth a visit, either as a destination on its own or as an adjunct to one of the many longer hikes in the area. The hike length can be doubled by parking at the West Zigzag Trailhead and hiking along the mossy, closed off section of East Mountain Drive (FR 1819) to the Castle Canyon Trailhead.
Walk 15 yards down the road from the pullout to take up the Castle Canyon Trail #765. Head into Douglas-fir, cedar, hemlock woods, with an Oregon grape, oxalis, salal and sword fern carpet. Cross an old road bed and a local trail. Reach the wilderness permit box, where vine maples, alders, and big-leaf maples form a leafy canopy. The trail winds up to a junction with another local trail leading off to the right. Pass an old Motor Vehicles Prohibited sign on a tree. Large stumps in the woods attest to the primeval forest that once was. The trail heads to the right and rises more steeply in a series of seven short switchbacks. After this, pass a small clearing and head up along the rocky spine of the ridge. There are gullies to the left and right. The spine steepens and the trail drops to the right. Ascend to the right of a rocky palisade on a rooty trail. These rocks are composed of fused pyroclastic material, or volcanic breccia. The trail reaches the higher outcropping and heads up below it. There’s a fantastic rampart up to the right as well. Rise to the left past an old Trail Not Maintained sign and switchback up to the top of a craggy palisade. Below this point, the Pinnacles Viewpoint, spurs lend easier access to the spine of this outcrop, with views across the Zigzag Valley to Hunchback Mountain. It is a temptation for many visitors to scramble about on the formations, but take care, especially on wet days, and wear proper footware.
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Castle Canyon Trailhead
Latitude: 45.33780
Longitude: -121.91565
Maps: Oregon Hikers Maps Google Maps
Elevation: 1605 feet
Driving time from Portland: 65 minutes
Drive Highway 26 east. From the last traffic light in Sandy, it’s 18.9 miles before you turn left on E. Littlebrook Lane in Rhododendron.
After a few yards, turn left again and, in 0.1 miles, the road bears right on E. Arlie Mitchell Road.
After 0.2 miles, bear left on FR 1819, the Barlow Road Route.
Drive 0.3 miles on this potholed gravel road, lined with getaway cabins, to a pullout on the left just before the trail sign for Castle Canyon. Don’t block the driveway just beyond this pullout.
* The Parker-Schram Railroad Car and Pedestrian Underpass in Oregon City, Coalca Landing and Balancing Rock south of Oregon City just north of New Era, Oregon, planned for Friday, Oct. 29.
Tibbitts took a photo of it (3067) but I don't own the negative.
21194 Pacific Hwy E, Oregon City, OR 97045, United States
South of Pearson's Tavern/Art Gallery
Willamette River Side of 99E
WPA created a wall in the vicinity of volcanic stone.
Also known as Coalcas Pillar.
Exit 9 on I-205 to Oregon City.
On the way there go to Highway 99E and Railroad Ave. (see below) Park right next to the railroad overpass and get out and take pictures. Check out the pedestrian underpass.
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Then get back on highway 99E.
Be sure to veer right into the Willamette Falls vista. Park, take pictures.
Then get back on highway 99E again but turn to Kanemah to 3rd Ave., then at north end, up Ganong to 4th Ave. Go all the way down 4th Avenue to the park. From their hike to the bluff to get some good shots of the Willamette. I own negative 3998 by Tibbitts which is a view of the Willamette in the vicinity of Oregon City. I can't find the right perspective, but this will be one attempt.
Drive about 6 miles south on 99 E.
Go past Chip & Dale's Iron works and ASA Construction.
If you see General Trailer Parts or reach South End Road in New Era, Oregon you've gone too far!
Pearson's Art Gallery is on the left.
Go there to look around, buy something maybe, ask about access to Balancing Rock. Also ask if you can park there while looking around.
Across the street and to the south is Coalca Landing. This is state property, a park per se (just not developed). There is a run down parking lot but no parking allowed. The hike north from the northwest corner of the parking lot might be interesting. The "park" may be closed to parking but it may still be okay to explore. The adjacent private property for sale seems to claim that owners there can use the property but no one else (strange). (see below).
Here is what one person said about visiting Balancing Rock:
The person parked on a pullout beside hwy 99 just West of the bluffs the pillar is on. "We had to bushwhack up to the top of the bluff and fight the vine maples, loose rocks, and very, very abundant poison oak. There is no trail from the side we went up, so it's slow going, but it is totally doable."
Vintage pictures show the rock is clearly on the East side of the highway, on the side of Pearson's Art Gallery.
Seeing the rock by hiking from the bottom seems difficult to me. It is probably not private property, but it is on a bluff. Might be more appropriate to drive down to New Era and then up South End Road. Maybe there is an access point from there. However, looking at the roads, they all seem to draw short of the bluff with private property ringing the area.
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https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC4A566_coalcas-pillar-aka-the-balancing-rock-above-99e?guid=d9ef58b5-7f63-4fa6-841c-6b4b4da2aad4
Coalca's Pillar is up near the top of the bluff. It's really a basalt plug, not a balancing rock....
They say you can see Coalca from the parking lot. Certainly it is a direct shot except for the trees.
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Coalca landing.
https://cyclotram.blogspot.com/2012/11/coalca-landing-expedition.html
Coalca Landing is a long, narrow strip of land on the east bank of the Willamette, with the river on one side, and Highway 99E and a major rail line on the other side. The entrance is fairly low key and easy to miss. Heading south on 99E, look for a railroad crossing just south of the Pearson's Art Gallery (a former historic tavern), with a few mailboxes out front. The aforementioned tiny State Parks sign is right there at the turn, but it's very little help as it's so small you won't really see it until you're practically past it. Anyway, once you're across the railroad tracks, the park's oddly enormous parking lot is off to your right, while directly ahead and off to the left are some residential driveways. The description to someone's Flickr photo of the park indicates the turnoff is near highway milepost 17, and a blog post I ran across has directions plus some great photos. Or if you prefer to go by GPS, I have coordinates of about 45.307810, -122.662881 for the parking lot, if that helps at all.
The park sits at a scenic stretch of the river known as the Willamette Narrows, much of which is part of the Greenway system (including three even more obscure areas on the far side of the river, "Rock Island Landing", "Pete's Mountain Landing", and "Peach Cove Landing".) Other parts of the area are owned by Metro. The obvious potential of the area led a 2009 University of Oregon design class to dream up a few proposals to enhance the site into a full-fledged state park, but as far as I know nothing's actually in the works. As the state's recent Willamette Greenway Parklands Strategy points out, the entire greenway system has been in a sort of political and financial limbo ever since the initial burst of enthusiasm faded in the late 1970s.
This is by no means the only scenic spot along the Willamette, but Coalca Landing has a couple of unusual points of interest:
If you know where to look, you can spot the once-famous Coalca Pillar, our fair metropolitan area's very own balancing rock. If you look across highway 99E and uphill, you'll notice a rock that looks like it's sorta-balancing high above the highway. It might take a minute to see it; it's not quite as dramatic as the balancing rocks you may have seen in Road Runner cartoons. Still, this rock was once a big local tourist attraction, back in the days when 99E was the main road into Portland from points south. Back then the area been logged relatively recently and trees were smaller, so rock formations like this were easier to spot.
It was also an era when access to the pillar was apparently much easier than it is today. The library's Oregonian database lists numerous hikes and climbing trips to Coalca Pillar during the early part of the 20th century, but that seems to have tapered off prior to World War II, and I haven't come across any contemporary accounts of anyone visiting it.
The rock's name comes from a local Indian legend. A circa-1898 melodramatic account of the story comes to us from a Southern Pacific Railroad guide to sights along their Shasta line as it travelled the West Coast:
Coalca's Pillar.
SOME three miles south of Oregon City, the Shasta Route passes below a rock-cliff, two hundred feet in height and standing out boldly toward the Willamette river. Its top is a level plateau, five acres in extent, which can be reached only by an almost impassable trail up the mountain side. Surmounting the edge of the cliff stands the wonderful stone pillar which our photographer has so successfully transferred to his camera. Coalca's Pillar is twenty feet high and weighs probably sixty tons. Its supporting stem or base is eight feet high and only thirty-five inches in diameter! While the passerby marvels at its equipoise and the geologist speculates over its formation, the chief interest in this strange monument centers in the Indian legend therewith connected.
At the Great Tumwater, Willamette falls, once dwelt Chelko, a famed and thrifty chief of the Clackamas, who held a trust on all the adjacent fishing grounds. All neighboring tribes paid Chelko tribute for the privilege of his fishing preserves, although salmon are said to have been then so plentiful below the falls that Indians walked across the Willamette on their backs.
Nearby lived the Molallas, whose stalwart young chief, Coalca, loved Nawalla, the only daughter of Chelko. But the daughter of a salmon king looked not with favor on the suit of a chief of an ordinary deer-hunting tribe, who lived on Molalla grasshoppers and jerked venison. Nor did her father favor the wooing of Coalca, and with the toe of his moccasin expressed energetic disgust whenever the latter appeared to pay court to Nawalla.
Coalca was resolved to have the maiden at all risks, and at dark of one moon, when the old chief was spearing salmon, he, with three of his braves, swooped down on Chelko : s tepee and carried away Nawalla. That night there was dancing and great joy in the Molalla village over the great capture and equal lamentation among the Clackamas, when was discovered the abduction of their princess by a rival tribe. The Clackamas braves donned their feathers and war paint and the tocsin was sounded. For months waged a bitter war; Nawalla, an unwilling prisoner, died of broken heart ; Coalca's band slowly pressed back the Clackamas and finally determined to capture their village. Stealthily they trailed among the rocky cliffs and for the night camped on the plateau upon which our pillar now stands. Here, in restful security, they tarried before dealing the; final death blow to Chelko and his tribe. But they contended with an older and craftier warrior, who wearied not nor slept. Before the morn Chelko scaled the rocky pathway, drove the Molallas over the cliff, and permitted not one of them to escape death.
The Indian legend further recites that the Great Spirit, sorely grieved at the untimely death of the beautiful Nawalla, wreaked vengeance upon Coalca and the three braves by turning the four Molalla warriors into pillars of stone and placing them at the edge of the cliff, exposed to the heat of summer and the storms of winter - that their stony forms might be an awful warning to passing Indians for all ages. But in time the heart of the Great Spirit softened to the three Molallas, who had but done Coalca's bidding in the abduction of Nawalla. Their spirits were released and permitted to go to the happy hunting grounds; three pillars were thrown to the bottom of the precipice and form now a part of the broken rock along the Shasta rails.
The pillar sits on ODOT land, technically outside the state park proper (nevertheless it is public property, not private). The state bought the land in June 1950 when Highway 99E was being widened. The linked Oregonian article indicates the state considered putting in a highway wayside near the pillar, but that seems to have never come to pass. The lack of parking might help explain why the pillar has been mostly forgotten in recent decades.
To find the second point of interest, you'll need to locate the trail heading north/downstream from the parking lot, and follow it a short distance. The trail passes several mysterious concrete structures, or remains of structures. From the info I've been able to gather so far (see, for example, this 2005 survey of the Highway 99E "green corridor"), the park seems to have once been the site of a sawmill owned by the old Doernbecher Manufacturing furniture company. Logs arrived by log raft, were pulled out of the river and milled, and the milled wood was then shipped by rail to the furniture plant near Portland's Hollywood District, around 28th & Sandy.
Apparently the Southern Pacific Railroad once had a station named "Coalca" somewhere in the vicinity, and there's still a rail siding by that name just north of the park.
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https://www.orcity.org/planning/hwy-99e-pacific-hwy-historic-corridor-rock-wall-coalcas-pillar-balancing-rock
99E and RR ave.:
This underpass provides a tunnel under the railroad for the traffic on the highway. It is constructed of concrete and includes a stylized deck railing above the tunnel along the tracks. Pilasters rise at the openings of the tunnel. The underpass extends northward as a retaining wall on which the tracks sit. At the north end of the underpass wall is a pedestrian tunnel.
Statement of Significance: This underpass was constructed in 1936-1937 by the Parker-Schram contracting firm. The project, funded in part by federal relief funds available during the Great Depression, was intended to improve the old Pacific Highway by providing a safe crossing of the railroad by going under the tracks through a tunnel. Because the highway curved at that spot, the tunnel is also curved. To make room for the improved highway and the underpass, 28 feet of the bluff was cut back. The design is somewhat stylized, using elements that are associated with the then-popular Art Deco style. The total cost of the project was $289,000. The underpass is virtually intact and is an excellent example of a public works transportation project taken on by the federal relief programs in the 1930s. As such, it should be considered eligible as a contributing resource in a historic district .