Mosier Twin Tunnels
103 Kingdom St
Mosier, OR
Two tunnels blasted through basalt in 1921, buried for decades, then dug back out as a walk-and-bike trail with the whole east Gorge spread out below.
The Mosier Twin Tunnels are a piece of engineering history you can walk straight through. When the original Columbia River Highway was pushed along this cliff in 1921, crews had to blast two short tunnels through a stubborn point of basalt to get the road past. For a few decades cars rolled through them, and then the modern freeway took over down at river level and the tunnels were abandoned, packed full of rock, and all but forgotten.
In 2000 they came back to life. As part of the long effort to rebuild the old scenic highway as a walking and biking route, the tunnels were dug back out and the roadway restored, this time with no cars at all. Today they are the centerpiece of one of the finest easy trails in the Gorge, a paved path that threads the cliffs on the sunny eastern edge of the canyon.
What Guests Love
- Walking or biding through the two historic tunnels, cut by hand through solid rock a century ago
- The wide-open views down the Columbia from the dry, sunny east end of the Gorge
- A paved, mostly gentle grade that works for families, bikes, and strollers, with no cars
- Spring wildflowers and the century-old graffiti left by snowbound travelers inside the tunnels
Worth Knowing
- There are trailheads at each end; the Mark Hatfield West trailhead near Hood River and the east trailhead above Mosier, and a state trail parking pass is required
- The full route between the two trailheads runs about four and a half miles one way, so plan a turnaround or a shuttle
- This is the sunny, exposed side of the Gorge; bring water and sun protection in summer, and expect strong east winds
- Rock does fall here; a wooden catchment shed was built over the trail near the tunnels for exactly that reason
Details
Mosier, OR
Learn about Mosier Twin Tunnels
A road blasted through the cliffs
The tunnels are part of the original Columbia River Highway, the pioneering scenic road engineered by Samuel Lancaster and completed in the 1910s and early 1920s. Lancaster wanted a highway that worked with the landscape rather than bulldozing through it, laying out graceful curves, stone guardrails, and arched viaducts, and building tunnels where a cliff left no other way.
Here at Mosier, that meant dynamiting two tunnels, one after the other, through a high point of solid basalt in 1921. Windows were cut in the rock wall so drivers could look out at the river as they passed. It was a marvel in its day, part of a road that drew tourists from across the country to see the Gorge.
Buried, then brought back
By the middle of the century the old highway had been bypassed, and the tunnels were considered a hazard. Crews filled them with rock rubble and sealed them off, and for a generation they sat buried and out of sight while traffic thundered by on the water-level freeway below.
Beginning in the 1980s, the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Act set in motion a plan to piece the old highway back together as a trail. Workers excavated the tunnels, rebuilt the roadbed, and reopened the segment in 2000. Inside, they uncovered a surprise: graffiti scrawled by travelers who had been snowbound in the tunnels back in 1921, still legible on the rock a lifetime later.
The dry side of the Gorge
What makes this trail special is where it sits. The western Gorge near Portland is a rainforest of ferns and waterfalls, but out here at the east end the climate flips to sun and wind. The forest thins into Oregon white oak, grassland, and open rock, and the views run for miles up and down the great blue trench of the Columbia.
In spring the slopes explode with wildflowers, golden balsamroot and blue lupine spilling across the grass, a display that draws people from all over the region. In summer the same open ground turns dry and hot, and the famous Gorge wind funnels through with real force, which is why this stretch of river is a world capital for windsurfing and kiteboarding just downstream.
Walking or riding it
Because the old roadway is paved and never climbs too steeply, the trail is friendly to almost everyone, families with strollers, casual cyclists, and anyone who wants a big view without a hard climb. Many people start from either trailhead and simply turn around at the tunnels, while others ride the whole length between Mosier and Hood River.
Spring and fall are the sweet spots, with wildflowers or golden oaks and gentler temperatures. Summer works if you go early and carry water, and even winter days can be clear and bright out on the sunny side of the canyon. Whatever the season, take a minute at the tunnels to run a hand over the blasted rock and read the hundred-year-old names on the wall.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Mosier
Tom McCall Nature Preserve
About 4 miles west
The Rowena Plateau and Tom McCall Point, famous for spring wildflower meadows and sweeping views over a horseshoe bend in the river.
Hood River
About 5 miles west
A lively Gorge town of orchards, breweries, and windsurf shops, and the base of the scenic Hood River Valley 'Fruit Loop.'
Mosier
In town
A tiny, friendly Gorge community of orchards and cherry stands at the east trailhead, worth a slow pass-through.
Vista House at Crown Point
About 40 miles west
The domed 1918 stone overlook on the wetter, forested west end of the same historic highway, a good bookend to the dry-side tunnels.