Six miles of the Historic Columbia River Highway and neighboring trails and waterfalls closed by slides since January re-opened Thursday, ODOT, Oregon Parks and Recreation and the U.S. Forest Service announced.
Frequent landslides forced the extended closure of the road between Bridal Veil and Ainsworth, known as the Waterfall Corridor including popular sites such as Wahkeena Falls, Horsetail Falls and Multnomah Falls, although Multnomah Falls has been open with access from the Exit 31 Interstate 84 parking lot.
| On several occasions since last year the slides forced closure of sections of the Historic Highway, trails, and waterfalls. Over the winter, one location about a mile west of Multnomah Falls saw more than 30 debris flows, a type of fast-moving landslide. These flows repeatedly deposited large rocks, trees, mud and other materials on the Historic Highway and the adjacent railroad tracks. Crews have completed temporary slope repairs at this location and we expect additional work will continue throughout the summer months.Evaluation by ODOT’s geotechnical engineers and geologists determined that the debris flows were groundwater driven and they foresee a decreasing risk of additional landslides as we enter the drier months.  Along the corridor, crews removed landslide debris, repaved and put in temporary barriers to replace the damaged white wooden railing.Above: A January 2021 debris flow one mile west of Multnomah Falls. |