Hike - Cape Horn Trail

The Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area is by far one of my favorite hiking areas in the PNW. I’ve had the pleasure of hiking many of the trails in the CRGNSA but, IMHO, I think the Cape Horn trail has the most spectacular views of the Columbia River Gorge.

The trailhead starts from a small parking lot near the intersection of Salmon Falls Road and Hwy 14 about 26 miles east of Vancouver, WA. We hiked the entire 7.5-mile loop which took about 3 hours. There are several vista points along the trail that give spectacular views of the Columbia River Gorge.

Thankfully, the weather was cool with hints of fall color. I had heard there were some rocky sections on the lower part of the trail and was concerned about our dog, Hobie. But thankfully, they weren’t too bad. I think next time I would just hike to the first vista point but I’m glad we were able to hike the entire trail.