Columbia Hills Historical State Park: Vista/Military Road Loop (Blog Hike #861)

Trails: Entry Road, Vista Loop, and Military Road Trails

Hike Location: Columbia Hills Historical State Park
Geographic Location: across the Columbia River from The Dalles, OR (45.65692, -121.08662)
Length: 4.7 miles
Difficulty: 6/10 (Moderate)
Date Hiked: July 2021
Overview: A lollipop loop offering fantastic views of the Columbia River Gorge.
Park Information: https://parks.state.wa.us/489/Columbia-Hills
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=880187
Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: 

Directions to the trailhead: This hike starts at Columbia Hills Historical State Park's Crawford Oaks Trailhead, which is located on the north side of Washington SR 14 11.2 miles east of Lyle, WA.  Pay the park entrance fee and park in the only asphalt parking lot.

The hike: Though you would hardly guess it from the barren, rocky, tallgrass scenery that dominates this area today, 100 years ago the land that forms Columbia Hills Historical State Park was occupied by homesteads and ranches.  The land claims for those homesteads dated to the Oregon Trail period in the mid 1800's.  In the 1900's, the various land plots were consolidated into one property called the Dalles Mountain Ranch, and in 1993 the ranch became Columbia Hills State Park.

            Before Euro-American settlers arrived, native peoples lived here; they relied on the Columbia River's prolific salmon runs for sustenance.  Also, the Lewis and Clark Expedition camped here in October 1805 on their way to the Pacific Ocean.  Today the park offers visitors fantastic amenities, which include a small campground, boat access to both Horsethief Lake and the Columbia River, fishing, swimming, and 35 picnic tables.

            For hikers, the park offers several trails of various lengths and difficulties.  Short and relatively easy trails explore scenic Horsethief Butte and Horsethief Lake, and they are located south of SR 14.  Yet the park's longest and most substantial hiking trails lie north of SR 14 in the Dalles Mountain Ranch area.  This hike explores the big area of the old ranch, and it samples the area's famous views and history without pegging the difficulty meter.

Crawford Oaks Trailhead

            From the Crawford Oaks Trailhead parking area, walk between the two gray posts designed to block vehicle traffic and begin climbing on the two-track gravel road.  After only a few hundred feet, you reach an exhibit area that describes the floods that carved the Columbia River Gorge during the last Ice Age.  If you were standing here during one of those impressive floods, the water level would be over 500 feet above your head!  The present-day westward view from here is also quite impressive: the Columbia River winds in the foreground, and snow-capped Mount Hood towers in the background here, as it does almost everywhere in this region.

View west from Ice Age floods exhibit

            The grade increases as the gravel road climbs through strata of rock via a single broad switchback.  Signs warn of rattlesnakes, and while I did not see any on my hike, they like to live in rocky areas such as this one.  Next the trail enters Eightmile Creek's canyon, and Eightmile Creek Falls can be seen downhill to the right.  Most of this hike is hot and sunny, but a few oak trees from the canyon give partial shade on this section of trail.

Climbing through Eightmile Creek's canyon

            At 0.8 miles, the gravel road switches back to the left and soon reaches a gate that blocks all access.  Angle right here to leave the gravel and begin following a two-track dirt road.  The initial 400-vertical-foot climb is now over, and the trail descends slightly to rock hop Eightmile Creek.  An interpretive sign tells you that homesteads used to be located along this creek, but only some trees planted by the homesteads' occupants remain.

Hiking the Vista Loop Trail

            1 mile into the hike, the trail splits to form the loop portion of this hike.  To make the climbing a little easier, turn right to begin the Vista Loop Trail and use the old road going left as your return route, thus hiking the loop counterclockwise.  Now on a dusty single-track dirt trail, the climb continues but at a more gradual rate.  

View of Columbia River and Mount Hood

            As you approach the rim of the gorge, the trail curves left to pass under a power line and begin heading upstream, still climbing on a gradual to moderate grade.  Every time I thought I had reached the best westward view of the gorge and Mount Hood, I hiked a little further, climbed a little more, and found an even better view.  Eventually you get high enough that the views up the gorge to the east and the Columbia Hills to the north get your attention too.

View up into the hills

            At 2.2 miles, the trail curves left to make its final turn north away from the Columbia River.  A deep ravine can be seen downhill to the right, and the park's east boundary comes very close on the right.  After passing back under the power lines, you reach a trail intersection.  The full 8.5 mile Vista Loop Trail goes right here, but the sun was getting hot on the mid-July morning that I did this hike.  Thus, I turned left to begin the Military Road Trail, which acts as a short-cut trail through the middle of the Vista Loop.

Hiking the Military Road Trail

            Named for a road used to transport supplies between Fort Dalles and Fort Simcoe in the late 1850's, the Military Road Trail soon reaches the highest elevation on this hike, which is roughly 750 vertical feet above the trailhead.  As the old saying goes, "it's all downhill from here."  The trail descends on a moderate to steep grade using several switchbacks, and some old barbed wire fences remind you of this land's ranching past.

Hiking along an old barbed wire fence

            Near 3.4 miles, the north half of the Vista Loop Trail enters from the right.  Soon you pass an interpretive sign that tells you about the Lucas Homestead, one of the families that lived here in the late 1800's.  After some more moderate to steep descending, you close the loop.  Retrace your steps 1 mile down the dirt and gravel road to return to the parking area and complete the hike.  While you are here, consider hiking the short trails at nearby Horsethief Butte and/or Horsethief Lake, both of which offer interesting scenery in the park's lower elevations.