Highway 30 links Astoria to Longview, Washington and thence north to Seattle, Washington, and south to the Portland metropolitan area. Construction of the dirt Columbia River Highway was completed in 1915. It is 100 miles from Portland to Astoria. A local secret to shorten the time of the trip is to go into Longview and follow the truck route to Interstate 5 and then into Portland from the north. Staying on Hwy 30 takes you into northwest Portland, but passes through a number of small towns and congested areas the freeway avoids.
Highway 30 has many scenic areas since much of the highway passes through Clatsop State Forest land and there are glimpses of the Columbia River. Just east of Astoria, the highway would be a perfect grand prix route as it twists over hills and valleys along the Columbia River. It crosses the John Day River with its houseboat community, and meanders among farms and houses to Svensen, Knappa, and Brownsmead. It heads over Bradley Hill (stop for the magnificent view of the Columbia) through forests, and farmland to the town of Westport.
EMERALD HEIGHTS
Located just east of Tongue Point on the south side of the highway, Emerald Heights is a large apartment complex located in former Navy housing built to support the staff caring for the hundreds of ships mothballed at Tongue Point. The complex has a variety of affordable housing with amenities such as child care, playgrounds, and laundry facilities.
The area east of Astoria has many houses along the highway and in small clusters on side roads with wonderful names like Scandinavian Cannery Road and Ivy Station Road that call up visions of the history of the area. A number of homes along the highway are located on hills overlooking the Columbia River and have spectacular views. If you would like water views that include ship traffic and small boats, as well as islands with birds and other wildlife, this unique area has a variety of homes to entice you. If you love fishing, boating, or hunting, you will want to live in this area. Watch for listings for Hwy 30 view properties to find your dream house.
JOHN DAY BOAT LAUNCH
Located about 5 miles east of Astoria, this 54 acre parks entrance was landscaped by Tongue Point Job Corps students. The parks main attraction is its recently renovated boat launch into the Columbia River, giving access to the Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge. It has flush restrooms.
On their return journey, on March 23, 1806, Corps of Discovery camped on the banks of Cathlamet Bay on the right bank of Mill Creek, shortly before reaching the mouth of the John Day River. They met their hunting party, who had downed two elk, and it being late and the situation sheltered from the wind, they decided to spend the night. You can enjoy the same views as they did from this park.
LEWIS AND CLARK NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
The Lewis & Clark Refuge is a series of islands and sandbars along the Oregon shore, some of which are visible from Hwy 30, covering 35,000 acres of the Columbia River estuary. The refuge, the largest marsh in western Oregon, is accessible only by water. The headquarters are at the Julia Butler Hansen Refuge (established in 1972 as the Columbian White-Tailed Deer National Wildlife Refuge) on the Washington side of the river, one mile west of Cathlamet. Turn left off Hwy 4 on Steamboat Sough Road. The island chain begins in Cathlamet Bay five miles east of Astoria and ends at Welch Island across from the headquarters.
This wildlife refuge was established to provide a wintering and resting place for tundra swans, geese, and ducks. It is also used by shore birds and eagles. Juvenile salmon rest here to become acclimatized to salt water on their journey to the ocean. Other fish at home in these waters are: American shad, starry flounder, catfish, perch, bass, pacific lamprey, and smelt. Seals and sea lions, as well as beaver, mink, raccoon, weasel, muskrat, and sea otter live or fish in the area. October through April is the best time to visit. Fishing and hunting are regulated by the State of Oregon.
TWILIGHT CREEK EAGLE SANCTUARY
Local residents speak of the eagle sanctuary with pride and are happy to point out flying eagles for you. Lewis and Clark camped at the base of the hill that is now the eagle sanctuary on November 26, 1805 for a miserable, wet night in the forest after an equally miserable, wet day.
Located six miles east of Astoria, just west of Settlers Point near Svensen, turn north on Burnside Loop and the viewing platform is a mile from the highway. The platform overlooks the Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge and the tidal marshes of Cathlamet Bay. There are 30-35 active nest sites.
SVENSEN
Svensen is named for Finnish sailor, Peter Svensen, who jumped ship in Astoria and homesteaded in this area. The area post office name was changed from Bear Creek to Svensen in 1895. It operated until 1944. For a small, defunct town, Svensen has a surprising number of houses, and it has a real grocery store. The farms and rural homes of this community of Finnish immigrants are clustered around the former post office. This is a pleasant, rural area located about 10 miles east of Astoria.
BIG CREEK COUNTY PARK
Located at milepost 82, this 36 acre park is mile south of Hwy 30 on Big Creek Lane off Hillcrest Loop. Big Creek flows north from the west side of Nicolai Mountain for about 10 miles to the Columbia River. The park gives access to the stream for fishing for salmon and steelhead. There is a parking area, primitive walking trails, and a baseball field with benches and a concession stand. The field is maintained by the local people, and is used for practice. The park is downstream from the Big Creek Fish Hatchery.
BIG CREEK FISH HATCHERY
Located south of Knappa, this hatchery is near Big Creek County Park. Follow the same directions, but continue on Hillcrest Loop for two miles. The hatchery is on the left. The best time to visit is between September and October. The hatchery is open daily with interpretive signs to guide visitors. Guided tours are also available. If you want to see salmon or steelhead spawn, call in advance to determine spawning dates. Generally salmon spawn Sept. 18 through Nov. 15, and steelhead spawn Dec. 20 through Feb. 15. The types of salmon raised are Tule fall Chinook, Rogue River fall Chinook, and Coho.
KNAPPA
Pronounced like the more well-known Napa, CA, this town is named after Aaron Knapp, Jr. who received title to 40 acres in 1872 and to 160 acres in 1890. The post office operated from 1872 to 1943. Knappa is located near the site of the Indian Village called Cathlahmah, which consisted of nine large houses when Lewis and Clark visited on November 26, 1805. There is little left of the original town, but, there is a restaurant and a local store and gas station that serve people of the surrounding area. Knappa Junction on the highway is the area thought of as the contemporary town. The old town site is north on Knappa Dock Road.
Knappa does, however, have its own school district with the Hilda Lahti Elementary School and the Knappa High School. Both are located west of the town not far from Svensen. They are both small schools where the staff knows and cares about the students. The Knappa Schools Foundation provides scholarships and funding for school programs and materials.
BROWNSMEAD
This peninsula north of the highway was settled by Finnish immigrants in the late 1800's. In the 1910's and 1930's dikes and tide gates were built to create farmland. The settlers? families operated small farms until the economics of farming forced them out of business. Three large dairy farms are all that remain, but the friendly atmosphere of a farming community persists. Because this area is made up of lowlands surrounded by dikes, zoning is very strict, and houses are widely spaced. This makes it an ideal place for full time residents and vacationers to keep horses. This is a very stable area so houses rarely become available for purchase. If turning back the clock fifty years to a friendlier, slower time appeals to you, act quickly if you find a listing for a house in this area.
The town of Brownsmead started out as the town of Brody, but was later named after W.G. Brown, an engineer from Portland. It is located on Saspal Slough, which flows away from the nearby Columbia River. The town center was on Brownsmead Dike Road and Leno Road. It had a general store, a Post Office from 1919-1975, and a Grange Hall. In the 1950?s when travel by car became easy, the store closed. The Grange Hall has ceased to be affiliated with the Grange, but it is still a community gathering-place, known for events with good food. Every fall members of the community put on a corn feed: a fresh corn and ham dinner.
BROWNSMEAD FLATS
At the mention of Brownsmead, local music lovers immediately think of the Brownsmead Flats. This group of Brownsmead residents plays Community/Folk/Family music at many local events and concerts, as well as producing its own CDs. The geniality of the group and its music enjoyed by all ages are a reflection of the close-knit community's values.
BLIND SLOUGH LOGGING CAMP
For those who love ghost towns, the Blind Slough Logging Camp was built to support the Larkin-Green Logging Company in about 1883, with a post office that lasted from 1910 to 1924. About 300 people were employed by the logging company.
ALDRICH POINT BOAT RAMP
This county park is situated at the northern-most point of the state of Oregon. It is located between mileposts 79 and 80, 5.4 miles north of Hwy 30 (turn north on the Ziak-Gnat Creek Lane, then right on Aldrich Point Road) at the end of Aldrich Point Road. This route takes you through the center of the Brownsmead area. Aldrich Point and John Day are the two county parks giving access to the Columbia River and the Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge. The boat ramp area is primitive with a chemical toilet, and is used mainly by wildfowl hunters and fishermen. In the summer it is used to launch canoes and kayaks.
This geographical feature was named 'Point Samuel' by Lewis and Clark when they camped here on March 24, 1806 on their return journey. The early settlers called it "Cathlamet Point". It is across from Tenasillahe Island and Pillar Rock, putting it at the eastern edge of the Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge.
GNAT CREEK HATCHERY
This hatchery is a good place to visit any time during the year. It is located near the Bradley State Scenic Viewpoint, 18 miles east of Astoria near milepost 78 on the south side of Hwy 30. This is much more than just a hatchery: it has a Clatsop State forest campground, hiking trails, and two waterfalls.
The hatchery raises spring Chinook salmon and steelhead, and there are native cutthroat trout in the creek. It has a pond where you can feed sturgeon that are over twenty years old, and large rainbow trout. The site has 2 miles of fishing access. There is an informational kiosk, watershed education, and a picnic area, but there is no drinking water.
Mile-long nature trails take you upriver through the forest of the Nicolai-Wickiup Watershed, with a trail guide listing the plants you will see. The trails were built or repaired by Boy Scouts and who gave them names like: Mikes Wetland Grotto. The Nicolai Watershed Walk takes you to the source of water for the area, and to Barrier Falls, a five foot high falls created to prevent fish from going upstream. Nearby, on an unnamed stream to the east, there is a 15 ft. waterfall that flows into Gnat Creek.
You can take a 1 mile hike downriver across the highway to the campground, which was built in the 1970s and refurbished in 2002. It has six tent sites and a vault toilet, but no refuse bins or drinking water. Camp sites are in a forest setting by the creek. The trail follows Gnat Creek and crosses its tributaries on scenic bridges. Campers only have to carry equipment a few yards.
BRADLEY STATE SCENIC VIEWPOINT(also called Bradley Wayside)
This is one of those Wow! viewpoints that are definitely worth a stop. You look over a Douglas fir forest down to the Columbia River, the Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge, and Puget Island. The island is a child?s diorama of farmland, houses, roads, and vehicles. Watching the progress of a pickup along a road takes you back to a time when days were long, slow, and full of wonders.
The park is located 22 miles east of Astoria at milepost 79.9, near the top of Bradley Hill (officially Clatsop Crest) between the Old Hwy 30 route to Bradwood and the Wauna Mill. The park was one of the first parcels of land donated to the Oregon Highway Commission. It was donated by Fred W. and Elemar F. Bradley in 1921. Picnic tables and flush restrooms are available. This is the perfect location for a family picnic combined with a visit to the Gnat Creek Hatchery.
BRADLEY-WOODARD LOGGING COMPANY
The Bradley-Woodard Logging Company was owned by the families of Fred Bradley and Walter A. Woodard. Bradley bought the Armstrong-Pelton Logging Company in Cathlamet, Washington in 1908 and renamed it the Bradley Logging Company. It operated until about 1923 when it was purchased by Crown Willamette and then Crown Zellerbach, which closed operations in 1958. In 1931, Bradley was joined by Walter Woodward, who had operated a large mill in Cottage Grove, Oregon that was a fatality of the Depression. The company established its new headquarters in what would become Bradwood on the Brownsmead Peninsula.
A rail line, started in 1903 by the Man and Montgomery Logging Company, began in Bradwood where it connected to the Spokane, Portland, and Seattle Railroad, and headed up into the Coast Range to the south. The Oregon Timber & Logging Company purchased Man and Montgomery with its railway, and extended it to a total of 15 miles to the east side of Nicolai Mt. This company logged the east side of Nicolai Mt. until it closed in 1928. The rail line made this the perfect headquarters for Bradley-Woodard, as Bradley had purchased a stand of timber near Nicolai Mt. and had a buyer in Japan. The B-W line used part of the existing tracks, but had to add its own lines to get to its property.
Many roadbeds and some trestles still exist. Some of the roadbeds have been turned into logging and forest access roads. If you go exploring you may be following the same route as a logging train from the early days of logging.
The company opened its own mill at Bradwood in the 1930?s. By 1940, the timber had been logged and the railway closed. The mill continued to operate, and was taken over by the Columbia-Hudson Logging Company, which closed it in 1963. The town of Bradwood, which had 24 houses, a company store, and other structures, was abandoned when the mill closed, and the remaining buildings were razed in 1983. This is the proposed site for an LNG terminal.
WAUNA
Located on the Columbia River across from Puget Island and Coffee Pot Island, Wauna was named by Alfred W. Clark from a Klickitat Indian name for mythical being that represented the river. It had a Post Office from 1911 until sometime before 1980. It is located 10 miles west of Clatskanie.
Wauna is now known as the site of a Georgia-Pacific paper mill. It produces consumer products: paper towels, bath and facial tissue, napkins, offset and bond paper, and freezer wrap. The west coast?s supply of thick paper towels comes from this mill. The mill employs 1075 workers. Twenty percent are from Clatsop County, the rest are from Columbia County and just across the river from Washington State. The mill is a major contributor to the local economy.
WESTPORT
Mention Westport to a local, and the immediate thought is The ferry to Puget Island for a romantic dinner. The Wahkiakum County Ferry to Puget Island has run since 1962. It operates 365 days a year and makes at least 18 trips a day. It leaves Puget Island on the hour (e.g. 10:00, 11:00) and Westport at quarter past the hour (e.g. 10:15, 11:15). The crossing takes 10 minutes.
The Westport ferry was started by Walter Coates with two wooden boats in 1925. It ran between Westport, Puget Island, and Cathlamet. He sold his boats in 1932, making way for Arthur Houchen to run boats and barges on the route. Almar Danilsen, who was from Puget Island, took over in 1936, and had a real ferry named Tourist. In 1938 a bridge was built from Cathlamet to Puget Island, eliminating the need for that part of the run. A new metal ferry, Almar, replaced the Tourist in 1949 and was sold when Almar dissolved the business in 1959. A tug and barge service was available briefly in 1960, then in late 1960, the county built the ferry, Wahkiakum, which is still in operation.
The Westport Post Office was established in 1863. The town was named for John West who arrived in 1850. He opened a sawmill and salmon cannery. West built the Westport Tunnel in the 1880's, one of the oldest surviving railroad tunnels in the Pacific Northwest. It was built as part of a skid road for oxen hauling timber from the Hungry Hollow Logging Camp to the Columbia River. It was widened and deepened as a railroad tunnel in 1907 when steam trains replaced oxen. The railroad line and tunnel were abandoned in 1915 when the timber in the area was depleted. On the south side of Hwy 30 just past Westport are the remains of the tunnel. An Oregon Historical Marker nearby on Old Hwy 30 gives the history of the tunnel.
Westport continues to be a fishing and logging town, and was a port where deep-draft lumber ships stopped. The famous Kerry Railroad (The Columbia and Nehalem River Railroad) began at Kerry Island, the log dump on the Columbia River for the Kerry Timber Company one mile east of Westport, and headed up the Nehalem Valley into the Coast Range. Construction started in 1913, the line opened in 1916, and was sold by Kerry in 1925 to the Knapp-Peninsula Timber Company, but the line continued to be called by the same names. In its most active years, 1923-1929, trains ran almost daily. The train was the link to the rest of the world for remote communities such as Birkenfeld and Neverstill. It served as many as 18 logging camps at various times, and connected to other rail lines that reached Olney and Jewell.
For more information on this fascinating network of logging camps and railroads, follow the link to the Abandoned Railroads site below.
CLATSKANIE
Although the city of Clatskanie is located in Columbia County, it is the closest large town for residents of northeastern Clatsop County, and they are served by the Clatskanie Columbia 6-J School District. Clatsop Community College offers classes in Clatskanie, demonstrating the close ties in the region. Longview, Washington, 13 miles east and north, or Portland, Oregon, 61 miles south east, are the major shopping and health care cities for the people of this area. It is 10 miles to the Wauna Mill, a major employer for the area.
The name Clatskanie is from Tlats-Kani, the name of the Indian tribe which lived in the area. (The accent is on the first syllable, and it ends in a long i.)
Clatskanie still depends on logging, and is typical of the rural communities in northwest Oregon.
