Latourell Road

A. F. Litt, April 13, 2020

I've been meaning to walk this road for years, but never got around to it and I was a little worried that it was on private property due to the prominent "No Trespassing" sign at the lower end, but it appears that it is mostly on public land and that the old county right of way may still be in effect for most of the way, above the private property at the bottom, at least.

One of these days I'll get out there, GPS track it, and get some photos.

"At Latourell, the highway intersects the old wagon road to the 'heights' or the 'mountain,' which in the early days, was the route to and from Latourell for settlers living in the hinterland above. A dedicated County Road, it is no longer maintained."

"The old county road which leaves the loops just below Mile Post 25, passes through a delightful area of open grass land, beside a picturesque, cliff sided point of rock, that offers a pleasing secluded retreat for ground picnics. This old road was a unit of the once Dalles-Sandy Military Road, the route of early pioneers. From here it descends to the park area and railroad station."

A. F. Litt

More current research has shown that the old military road most likely descended to the river in the drainage between Chanticleer Point and Crown Point, though on a different alignment than the Rooster Rock Road.

"It intersects Larch Mountain Road just beyond the 1-mile marker on that road. Before the Columbia River Highway connected the 'Summit' and Latourell, this old wagon road served that purpose."

The old road is fairly clear in the lidar Bare Earth Slope image below.

Looking at the lidar image below, there are some interesting things going on at the intersection at the top of the road. There is an old severed curve of the Larch Mountain Road, visible in the 1927 map above, and the Latourell Road actually branches off from there.

"Just before Latourell was reached, a branch road to the right led to Bridal Veil and also to Brower."

The road to Bridal Veil and Brower is clear on the 1889 map, but no clear traces of it remain on the lidar. I may have largely been destroyed, at least through here, by the CRH. To the east are many grades, but without being able to trace them directly to the Latourell Road, it is impossible to tell which one is the old Bridal Veil / Brower Road.

The circle marker on the 1889 map is the old Mountain Grade School. From what I can see, the site of the old school is off the Larch Mountain road a bit down the old grade.

CLICK HERE to continue exploring the LARCH MOUNTAIN ROAD

CLICK HERE to continue exploring LATOURELL