I will be going to Tulare California and then up to Moses Lake Washington through the Columbia river gorge on april 23, can anyone tell me what side or the river is best for train watching and best for the senic view in general?
Thank You
elrojo
Both sides are good. Access is easier on the north side because it doesn’t have the interstate highway but the views are more open on the south side because it’s a little drier. Traffic is heavy on both lines, about 35 trains daily. Saturday seems to be the heaviest day on the BNSF Fallbridge Sub. There aren’t many views (but they can be spectacular) from the north side, Washington Hwy 14, from Vancouver to Skamania, but above Skamania the highway gets down next to the railway and then there’s lots to see.
The gorge is an extremely easy place to watch trains, period.
S. Hadid
If you can only make one trip, go from west to east on the Washington side.
If you want to get there quickly stay on the freeway on the Oregon side, then I84 into Washington. You will see a lot of trains but slowing or stopping on the road is a very bad idea. UP seems very busy.
If you have time and want to get a feel for the area, and the geology is spectacular, go on the Washington side. This is a two lane road and traffic is a bit slower and more relaxed with pull outs here and there plus some small towns. The road is North of the railroad so you are on the wrong side in terms of lighting for photos. For the first 60 miles or so this may not matter much as will likely be a cloudy day. East of Hood River/Underwood odds are you will have a clear day. In the 80 miles between Troutdale and The Dalles Oregon climate changes from rainforest to desert.
I think this is among the most spectacular drives in the US either side. I newver get tired of it.
Mac
Be sure to look out for the feed mill just north of Pixley, CA. that has two locomotives with the same number. It is on the west side of Freeway 99.
Try Hood River OR there is a overlook there & you can get good shots of the UPRR as well as the BNSF on the other side of the river. If you are lucky you can also get the wind surfers in the pix. There is also a bridge there spanning the Hood River so U can get shots of the UPRR/river/bridge all together
There are bridges across the river every half hour or so. It’s easy to pop back and forth if you want. There is FAR more to see on either side than you will have time for on your trip, so just jump in and don’t drive too fast.
My [2c] based on my own train watching experiences in the PNW…
Avoid any drive-by train watching on the west side. Too many trees in the way!
That being said, if you’re coming from the Portland area heading east, stay on I-84 until you hit The Dalles, then jet over to the Washington side via US 197/SR 14 and keep heading east until you hit the I-82. The UP line is level with most of I-84 on the Oregon side until you hit The Dalles, and you can see some action in motion, but for BNSF action you need to be clear of the foliage, and after The Dalles I-84 loses sight of the UP line for long stretches east anyway. At the I-82 interchange, you can then head straight north to Moses Lake via the Tri-Cities, but if you still have some free time I recommend heading back to the Oregon side via the I-82 bridge then via US 730 through the Wallula Gap, then head north via US 12 when you get to Wallula. At the Tri-Cities you can take US 395 north parallelling BNSF to Mesa where you have to get onto SR 17 to Moses Lake.
You miss way too much of the best train viewing, as well as mind blowing scenery that way.[
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If your going out I-84 then take the first bridge to Washington, at Cascade Locks. That’s where the real good waterfront type viewing begins, with BNI trains close enough to touch. Many tunnels, both auto and train are also on this route.
Really take a look at the geology in this region, and foremost try and read up on how it got to look like this, this is fairly recent geologic activity and the story of the glacial ice dams and catastrophic floods is even more amazing, truly one of the wonders of the United States. the trains are kind of slick too.
To me, to travel up or down the Columbia River without an abiding, even overwhelming, awareness of the historical, geological, and climatic forces that make the journey one of the genuine transformational experiences of modern travel, and only be interested in “trains,” is serious evidence of a need to get a real life.
Oh, the answer is just so easy. The best side of the Gorge is the side you are NOT on.
The north side does have the best access but either side can get zapped by mow windows during mid day. When things break loose in the afternoon, then watch out for the flood. You might think of going east on the north side and returning on the south side. You should take some time at Bingen/White Salmon and Stevenson on the north side and The Dalles on the south side. Multnomah Falls on the south side is a nice cool break from the Interstate traffic.
That’s absolutely true. The only way to see the other side is from … er … the other side. And you miss so much of either side if you are not on the other side.
I drove this stretch last May. It depends on the pace you want to cover the ground in. The interstate is on the south side of the river and a two lane highway on the north. We drove the interstate because we were trying to cover as much ground as possible. As usual, sometimes you are right down alongside the tracks and other times a half mile away (or above it when you are on top of the plateaus).
We stayed at the Best Western in Cascade Locks. We had a river view room and had a great view of the BNSF main on the north side of the river. The UP ran about 50 feet from our hotel but was not loud at all - surprisingly. Lots of trains. The restaurant to the west of the hotel was pretty good.
I believe it’s at Wishram, WA where the BNSF crosses the Columbia River to get to the inside gateway. I believe there is a yard in the area if I remember correctly. I didn’t get to spend much time in this area, but I recall being impressed by layout of the facilities.
Don’t know if you’ve been to the area before (I hadn’t). If you haven’t and are going to Moses Lake, it’s worth the additional drive to Grand Coulee Dam. Awesome tour in and of itself.
Vista House, which is about 30 miles east of Portland is an awesome view of the Gorge. Multnomah Falls is a must see. It’s right along the interstate. We rode the Hood River RR out of Hood River, OR. It was an O.K. trip, but the Durango and Silverton it is not. If you are into art, there is an art museum in the middle of nowhere (Maryhill, WA) which contains some intersting work. A number of Romanian nobility treasures are there.
Hope this helps.
Hi John, Long time no hear. When are you going to be out this way again? I believe you said something about a steakhouse [dinner].
<> Anyway about Washington, I lived in Stevenson for 4 years and know the zone quite well. I assume you are going up I-5 then up the georege to US97 to Yakima, Ellensburg then east on I-90. Then I would take the 205 belt route to I-84 then east to Cascade Locks, cross over on “The Bridge of the Gods”. First of all SR 14 (North side) from Camas to North Bonneville is a slow 2 lane 50MPH (at best) road surrounded by trees & vegitation and saturated with tourists and hazardous drivers (There is a great viewpoint on the point though). But train watching is pretty much out as you will only catch brief glimpses at best (aside from a few miles of close running east of Skamania) especially when the leaves are thick. Also some of the better UP running is between Troutdale and Bonneville. You are never that far from the tracks but beyond Cascade locks access is limited where the track is close and there are a lot of places where it is out of view. Also the george is deep and there are not that many hours of light on the tracks most of the year.
<> Anyway cross over to Washington at Cascade Locks and continue east (The Bridge of the Gods area is a good spot because the george is narrow here and the tracks on both sides are as close together as they get). After Stevenson you will be out of view of the tracks for about 6 miles. Then you will come out of the woods at the Wind river bridge, this is Home Valley. I recommend stopping in this area if you are planning on stopping anywhere. The trees a
You have received some pretty good advice. However, something is missing here. There is a very large yard south of Hermiston OR, called Hinkle. The UP has a locomotive shop, car shops, and classification yard here. They are the largest in the Pacific Northwest. This is my old home town. My family has been here since the late 1800’s. On any given day, you could see upwards of 50 to 100 locomotives in the yard areas. All colors and types, numerous foreign power abounds. This is the main junction for ALL UP traffic coming from the Midwest and Canada. Going North on I-82, Pasco WA has a very nice BNSF yard, with a separate grain yard. The old NP roundhouse is still standing (About 1/2 anyway), along with a turntable. There is a long bridge connecting Kennewick and Pasco. It is close to 100 years old, and the BN keeps it in excellent shape. There is a lot of rail activity here. Not much activity in Moses Lake. I have 2 children living there. Nice town, lots of water and fishing. About 22 miles north is the town of Ephrata, the county seat of Grant County. It is on the BNSF (ex-GN) main line from Seattle to Chicago. Pretty fair amounts of traffice through here. Enjoy your trip and take your time.
I find the BNSF (ex-Spokane, Portland & Seattle Ry) mainline on the Columbia’s Washington shore to be the best, although backlighting can be a problem in shooting photos of eastbounds after noon unless shooting toward the east after the train passes you. The Union Pacific, on the south bank, has more luxurious scenery but being in more a more forested area also means compensating for shadows, or playing light against shadow. Late spring and summer evenings in the gorge can be spectacular on clear days, the warm long light after 5PM DST making for lush color saturation.
The BNSF’s current GN-inspired colors look pretty stunning to my eyes in the more volcanic, rocky environs of the Gorge north bank, and even in the more forested sections between Vancouver and roughly Cape Horn; east of Cape Horn the scenery gets grassier and more rocky/arid. This is equally true on the UP the closer you get to The Dalles.
The BNSF seems to fire off more eastbound trains from Portland and Vancouver in daylight hours than the UP does out of Portland. I’m not the greatest auhority on train frequencies, since I’ve done only a little helter-skelter Gorge region train watching since moving to Portland six years ago. Maybe it’s just that I find the BNSF more colorful than the trains of the Usually Parked.
I want to thank everyone who helped make our trip a success. There were no trains on the north side of the Gorge due to track maintanence, they seemed to be working on the entire track at different spots. There were about 5 trains at Wishram waiting to go through the Gorge,maybe at night , I don’t know. We did get some pictures on the south side. And several good pictures of the Gorge. After working 48 years in and out of the Grand Canyon I did not know what a real life was until I saw the Gorge, now I have a real life.
elrojo