MT HOOD SCENIC DRIVE

Touring Oregon’s
Historic Barlow Road

During Your Visit to the Villages of Mt Hood

The journey to Mt Hood is a road trip adventure unlike any other. As part of the Oregon Scenic Byway, the Mt Hood Loop Drive is full of history and endless activities. To ensure you don’t miss a thing, the Barlow Road Driving Tour CD was created to act as a narrated tour guide in your car for more than 20 landmarks along the way. Many landmarks from the first generations of travelers through Mt Hood still exist for you to visit.

While traveling this route, keep in mind that you are on the path of the last leg of the Oregon Trail pioneered by Samuel K. Barlow. Barlow used an Indian trail that crossed through the foothills of the Cascades to reach the Willamette Valley from The Dalles. The road was cleared, opening in July 1846 as a toll road. It is estimated that nearly 10,000 emigrants a year traveled along Barlow’s route between 1846 and the early 1860s. The road is often considered the single achievement to have contributed more to the future state and wealth of the Willamette Valley than any other before the railroads.

In the early 1900s, people began taking road trips to Mt Hood. In 1903, Portland automobile dealer John B. Kelley drove the first car through one of Barlow’s tollgates to Government Camp. People had been visiting Mt Hood for some time by taking “four-horse” vehicles, but gradually automobile stage lines began operating out of Portland to bring visitors to Mt Hood.

Today, the drive can be made in an hour or two, but back then it was a three-day journey to reach Mt Hood from Portland. The trip up the mountain was a continuous challenge, even for the most experienced drivers.

Ivan M. Wooley was one driver who made a living by taking people to Mt Hood. He started in 1913, driving his 1907 “4-48” Pierce Arrow. The drive from Portland through Gresham was usually a smooth ride; it was after you passed through Sandy and entered more rugged territory that things got interesting.

Before entering the Villages of Mt Hood you must descend long, steep Cherryville Hill. Today, the paved road is harmless unless icy but back then, Cherryville was the first big challenge of the trip and it was covered in planks. The planks were meant to make the trip smoother, but heavy traffic and rain caused the planks throughout the road to break up, creating a mess.

Another common problem was mud. After a heavy rain, deep, slippery ruts would develop; forcing drivers to put on tire chains. The wet weather also presented the challenge of keeping windshields clear—before the invention of wipers!  Drivers coated their windshields with an assortment of concoctions, but the method that proved most effective was wiping a plug of chewing tobacco across the windshield. The tobacco juices had a longer lasting effect than other solutions in promoting runoff of the rain and mud.

The road through Alder Creek traveled along the Sandy River and was an Indian campsite each fall. The Indians came from Warm Springs Reservation to pick huckleberries around Government Camp, and then moved down to the river to catch salmon. Tourists often tried to take pictures of the Indians, but the Indians refused out of fear of being killed if their photograph was ever destroyed.

Welches has always been a popular tourist stop. Billy Welch and his father homesteaded the area, and eventually Billy and his wife, Jennie Faubion, ran a resort on the land. It is now the home of The Resort at the Mountain, offering fine lodging, dining and golfing.

Continuing up the road from Welches, traveling through Rhododendron you reach the Tollgate Campground, very near the actual site of one of Barlow’s tollgates. The original tollgate and buildings associated with it are gone, but the campground is a perfect spot to stop for a night or two, right near the Zig Zag River.

Above Tollgate, the winding, narrow road climbs towards Government Camp. Deemed the most challenging bit of road by pioneers and stage line drivers was Laurel Hill. Pioneers used to lower their wagons down the slick, muddy hill with ropes tied to trees to act as a braking device. To climb the hill, drivers had to remain in a low gear, often causing their cars to overheat. To this day, winter conditions make the hill a struggle and chains are a necessity.

The journey of emigrants to the Willamette Valley, and later tourists to Mt Hood, was far more complex than the trip it is today. It is unlikely you will see bears and Indians on your road trip, nor do we have to travel down slippery, muddy slopes and across plank roads. Nevertheless, this is a journey packed with history and adventure. The section of roadway that passes through The Villages of Mt Hood is part of the Mt Hood Scenic Byway which loops around the mountain. 

May/June 2007
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