Mitchell Point
The Dalles to Sandy River Military Road
1872
My GPS data was all over the place, so this is the best I can get right now looking at that data combined with the Google Earth Imagery.
Approximate Route of Wagon Road at Mitchell Pointv.006 Columbia_River_HighwayGoogle Earth Imagery Date: July 18, 2010
So the old wagon road was taken out in sections by the railroad and the CRH, the CRH was taken out by US 30 / I-84 in sections... My son was asking the other day if, one day, I-84 would suffer the same fate? Who knows? I am sure all the previous roads were, for a time, thought to be all that would ever be needed for land transportation through the Gorge.
The old wagon road is in pretty decent condition through this area, and even serves as part of the trail up to the top of upper Mitchell Point. It is even possible to follow the route up and over the point, between the lower and upper points, I've heard. I've also heard that, before the HCRH was constructed, car traffic did pass over Mitchel Point, but you had to call ahead so someone would be available to guide your drive over the narrow path.
May 13, 2020
Apparently I never got my photos from this hike up onto the website or onto Facebook but, at least, I was really active with the Instagram that day! I'll get more photos up when I get my hard drives back, hopefully.
2014
It seems as if I remember a post somewhere where Scott Cook was describing a loop using the old Wagon Road over Mitchell Point, but I can't find it now...
LINKS
Portland Hikers: Mitchell Point in Search of Wagon Road
http://www.portlandhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=18357
Columbia River Images: The Dalles and Sandy Wagon Road, Oregon,and the Cattle Trails
Includes ... The Dalles and Sandy River Trail ... Joel Palmer Cattle Trail ... The Dalles and Sandy Wagon Road ... The Dalles and Sandy Military Road ...
http://columbiariverimages.com/Regions/Places/the_dalles_sandy_wagon_road.html