Multiple CRH Routes

Page Index

• Wagon Road/CRH: Wyeth Road Alignment
• CRH: River Alignment

While the 2006 report appears to be correct in that there is only one known, existing fragment of the CRH river route between the Herman Creek / Wyeth Road and Wyeth, there is an earlier route, closely following the county road, that seems to be mostly intact.

ODOT's 2010 CLI Report explains this changing route:

1914 - Built - Grading of three segments in Hood River County totaling 5.3 miles. (Multnomah / Hood River County line to 1/2 mile west of Cascade Locks - 1.5 miles; east of Wyeth to Shellrock Mountain - 1.7 miles; and Shellrock Mountain to Viento - 2.1 miles.)

I suspect that this work was done in order to connect existing sections of road, as the bridge (the Shellrock Mountain Road) between the Wyeth to Shellrock and the Shellrock to Viento segment was already complete at this time.

1912 - Built - Simon Benson contributed $10,000 for the construction of a new road across Shellrock Mountain. The road was built by Honor prisoners from the State Penitentiary.

It follows that the 1914 grading of 1.7 miles between Wyeth and Shellrock was connecting the convict built Shellrock Road to the existing Herman Creek / Wyeth Road coming out of Cascade Locks, and this is the route reflected in the earlier 1913 / 1916 USGS map.

Later on, the actual CRH was then built following its own, new route above the river and railway.

1914-1915 - Built - 22 miles were graded from 2 1/2 miles west of Cascade Locks to the city of Hood River.

While ODOT's 2010 report gives the dates 1914-1915 for the construction of the river alignment, OHC's Third Biennial Report indicates later dates for its construction, saying that this segment was "graded and graveled in 1917 and 1918."

I am inclined to trust the earlier report more than the later one, which seems to contain many slight errors such as this.

This seems to clarify some confusion. In October 2013, I spoke with a fellow out on an old road grade in this section who told me that the old highway route was over the Wyeth Bench, following the Herman Creek / Wyeth Road. He had worked in many roles in the area over the last 45 years, and spoke of old maps referring to an unpaved road on the south side of the west Wyeth Road slope as being the original highway. Walking this route, there were no artifacts that would indicate that it was ever a part of the CRH, while all of the maps and photos I had seen to that point indicated a river route to the north.

However, after further research, I am certain that, for a short period, this route was surely, considering the maps and construction dates, the original route of the CRH.

Later on it became evident that this road started off as the 1872 Wagon Road. If so, this might be the best preserved segment of the wagon road left in the gorge, as it is still drive-able and showed signs of recent use (tire tracks) in 2013.

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