ODOT, Cultural Landscape Inventory: Shellrock Mountain to Ruthton Point - Historic Columbia River Highway

Ruthton Point & Ruthton Park: Summary

These two short fragments lie between Mitchell Point and the city of Hood River - “Seventy thrilling miles of pavement from the city of Portland” (Williams 1923, pg. 117). The 1920s Columbia Gorge Hotel, mentioned in most period guides as the culmination of tours of the highway, is a short way east of Ruthton Park. From here, tours would explore the Hood River Valley, a landform created by the gradual flattening out of lava flows. These lava flows form a series of terraces above the river rising to the valley. The historic highway followed the edge of one of these terraces to connect Mitchell Point with Hood River.

Both the climate and the landscape context change east of Mitchell Point. Here it is drier and more open, with more oak and pine mixed into Douglas fir forest. Land use in this area is primarily agricultural and suburban private development, in contrast to the recreational public lands to the west. The 1939 aerial photograph reveals field outlines that are still present in the current landscape, creating a greater historical continuity of context for these sections than for the others included in this report.

Ruthton Point, once mostly orchards, has been converted to vineyard. Elliot (1914) noted dramatic views from Ruthton Hill, the site of the extant fragment. These views remain one of its attractions. The west end of this fragment is being used as a junk storage area for an adjacent landowner.

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Topography

The historic topography of both fragments in this section is obscured by I-84. The current topography of the Ruthton Point fragment consists of a large soil and rock mound or cut through dividing the segment from the freeway...

Buildings and Structures

The Ruthton Point fragment begins abruptly at Interstate 84. Originally, this was a rocky point. The 1939 aerial indicates rock cuts around the point, now gone. Elliot created a viaduct to carry the Highway around this point, part of which has been restored along with the associated concrete guardrail and arched rubble masonry guard wall. An “eagles nest” built viewpoint and mile markers were added during the restoration. It is not clear if there was a built viewpoint here historically. A widening of the road visible on the 1939 aerial photograph corresponds to the reconstructed view point....

Circulation

The Ruthton Point segment has only a short piece of intact pavement at its west end. The pavement for the rest of the segment is in poor condition. It is covered in dirt and gravel, patchy, or missing. The west end of the segment terminates abruptly on the shoulder of Interstate 84. The east end intersects Morton Road, which leads north to the agricultural area at Ruthton Point. This intersection can be seen on the 1939 aerial...

Views and Vistas

There is a distant panoramic view of the Gorge to the west from the first section of Ruthton Point. This is a moving view, seen while travelling along the road. The 1939 aerial photograph shows a series of lens-shaped turnouts along the cliff edge in this area. The built viewpoint is a recent reconstruction or addition. It corresponds to a lens-shaped shoulder widening on the 1939 aerial, partly obscured by tree canopy. The historic aerial also shows a large space, perhaps for parking, opposite this area across the road. The built viewpoint is in fair condition, with one of its benches broken off. The oaks surrounding it partially block the view. There is an informal view point equipped with a garden bench on the east end of the Ruthton Point fragment. It is a panoramic distant view of the gorge, obscured by the power line.

November 21, 2014

Originally, it was thought that the restoration of Ruthton Point would be completed "by 1993" and "open to the public." (Raddick xiii - xiv) While the restorations were apparently completed, the section was never opened officially to the public and the old railings and viaducts have suffered quite a bit of neglect in 20 some years since they were last repaired, necessitating further restorations before this section is connected to the State Trail.

Looking at the above photo, it looks like the old road cut and highway would have pretty much fit on the shoulder of the current interstate as it approached Ruthton Point.

In 2013, knowing that the Strucks were upset about the ODOT plans to build the state trail through their property (the right of way for the old highway had long since reverted to the family), I chose not to publish any photos taken on the highway fragment through the disputed right of way. If I can locate those images, I will post them at a later date.

Back then, the property owners were also storing a lot of stuff back there, and had a very prominent security camera watching the area. Apparently, by 2019, this was all cleared out, looking at the photos in the blog post linked to at the bottom of this page.

Lyn Topinka, Columbia River Images: Ruthton Point, Oregon

According to Norman and Roloff (2004, from Allen, 1979), Ruthton Point is composed of east-dipping bright-yellow palagonite tuff and breccia, the result of lava from a nearby intracanyon volcano, or possibly from Quaternary Underwood Mountain volcano across the river, pouring into a lake formed by a lava dam.

LINKS

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