Mayer State Park

"The first tract acquired in Wasco County was the Mayer Park, a 1924 gift area."

1946 State Parks Report: Mayer State Park

Mayer State Park is situated on the Columbia River Highway, between Mile Post 79.60 and 81.97. The park includes practicell [sic] the entire Rowena Loops area, and is described as being in Sections 2, 3, 10 and 11, Township 2 North of Range 12 East, W.M., Wasco County, containing 260 acres, less 4.21 acres to the United States for a flowage easement, the net area 255.79 acres. This entire tract was a gift to the State of Oregon by Wasco County and Mark A. Mayer, the deeds dated, March 8, 1924 and April 12, 1924, respectively.

Two clauses in the deed from Wasco County recite the following:

"Whereas, Wasco County has heretofore paid the Cost Bill ($755.05) and, acting through its Board of County Commissioners, decided that damages in the sum of $2,800.00 could not be paid out of County Funds for the taking of the land; and

"Whereas, thereafter and thereupon a public spirited citizen in the person of Mark A. Mayer, Mosier, Oregon, has paid to Wasco County, the said sum of $2,800 in order that title to the real property hereinafter described may be acquired by Wasco County to be deeded and conveyed to the State of Oregon for the use of the public as a park-site forever..." It was a worthy gift to the State and has been much appreciated by the public.

The wide, parapeted parking space at the crest of the park [Rowena Crest Viewpoint], with an elevation of 718 feet (U.S.G.S.), above sea level, and over 600 feet above the river which laves its base, is well up on the western limb of the Ortley anticline. It is the most elevated overlook point on the Columbia River Highway from Crown Point to this site, and there is no place on this highway further east that rises to a similar height or affords a comparable up and down stream view of the river.

The axis summit of the Ortley anticline lies about midway between Rowena and Crate's Point, its highest vicinity elevation 2,047 feet, less than a mile south of the highway. While the line of this anticline axis might be called the east end of the Gorge; Crate's Point a well known geographic feature, bordering the west side of The Dalles basin, more distinctly marks a physiographic change, and is the line of demarcation between the dwindling edge of the forest growth that exists to the west and the treeless zone to the east. Thus, Crate's Point can logically be considered the definite, east end of the Columbia Gorge, as when this point is rounded there is an entirely different aspect and atmosphere going in either direction.

Below the parapeted parking place are the winding, sharp curved Rowena Loops that have been so skillfully engineered down a seemingly impossible precipitous slope. Just beyond their base is the Rowena hamlet.

To those who know where to find them along these warm, sheltered loop slopes, there may be seen the earliest and most exquisite blossoms of the yellow adder's tongue (Erythronium parviflorum) to be found anywhere along the Columbia River Highway. Later on, there are places in the loop area that are fairly carpeted with these beautiful, rich-yellow flowers, which seem to excel all others in color and size. There, too, there is an abundance of Cinnamon brush (Ceanothus velutinus) locally called wild lilac, or perhaps "shooley" brush. There is a waist high shrub, abundant in the Rowena loops, bearing a mass of sweet scented flower clusters, which range in color from white, through shades of lavender and blue. The shrubs are abundant, colorful, and when the spring days are warm and quiet, their sweet odor scents the roadside atmosphere. Unfortunately, in blossoming time they are infested with ticks, and contact with them should be avoided, if possible.

Looking down and across the Columbia, a snug little village of Lyle rests peacefully beside the mount of the Klickitat (Lewis and Clark's "Cataract River") a stream once famous for its many and large trout. To the east are the brownish gray sloped that mark the beginning of the treeless region of Eastern Oregon, an up-river view that has a singularly appealing charm and beauty all its own.

For a brief time in the early spring a tinge of green spreads over the bordering hills and later they are gay with visible splashes of bright yellow sunflower blossoms, but the moisture quickly drains away from the shallow soil of the steep, arid slopes and they are soon sere and gray. Cool, boisterous winds sweep up the Gorge in the spring and early summer, but in late summer and autumn there are many quiet, delightful days, especially when the leaves of the scrub oaks and shrubs of the gulches have turned to the accustomed seasonal tints of beautiful reddish browns and rich sepia tones. These with the variable mahogany shades of the basalt cliffs and outcrops, are then harmoniously blended with the gray-brown of the steeps, all reflected with mirror like clearness in the placid water of the river. In looking upon these somnolent hills in this pleasant time of the year, they seem to have gone into repose, holding an indefinable something deeper, more impressive, than the bare surfaces indicate. Then there comes to mind an inarticulate though of the mysterious, inscrutable, distant past when the vast spread of the interior Oregon Country was covered with a flora of tropical of semi-tropical luxuriance, its fauna an aggregation of many animals no longer in existence. These ranged from sheep sized horses to huge mastodons, with many other strange and powerful animals of like or intermediate sizes, and ferocious predators in sufficient numbers to balance and stabilize their existence. All these were long since overwhelmed, their remains buried under hundred, even thousands, of feet of gravels and basalts that constitute the visible, exposed surface, now dominated by civilized mankind, who with marvelous ingenuity is progressively converting the vast area to human needs and uses, while the past sleeps, wrapped deeply in its timeless obscurity far beyond the ken of ordinary mortal understanding.

Several years ago a fire swept over the loop area killing a good many small to sizable pine trees, and a number of large ones. In this fringe of trees that marks the near eastern limits of evergreen growth, this fire loss was lamentable. Later on, it was aggravated by the loss of other and larger pines, because of a limited bark beetle infestation, probably induced as a result of the trees being weakened by fire. Every tree killed by fire or insects in this border line growth is a loss to the park that it takes many years to replace, and the fire hazard is always dangerously present in the fire season.

Other than its fine and ample, walled parking space, there are no improvements and no facilities of any kind. However, there are many cars pausing for visitors to look in wonderment upon the magnificent panorama that spreads before them.

W. A. Langille

State Parks Historian

December 5, 1945

Recommendations:

Keep the park a wilderness area. Improve view point in every way possible. Have Maintenance Department remove sand bunker just below overlook.

S. H. Boardman

State Parks Superintendent

March 25, 1946

Chester H. Armstrong, HISTORY OF THE OREGON STATE PARKS: 1917-1963

Mayer State Park is part of an area known as Rowena Heights. It is located on Interstate Highway 80N, approximately 10 miles west of the city of The Dalles in Wasco County.

The first land acquired for Mayer Park was 260 acres given to the state by Mark A. Mayer in April, 1924. Negotiations were started as early as 1921 by Mr. Mayer to purchase land to be donated to the state for use as a park. He had difficulty in obtaining a part of the land he had selected, as the owner was holding out for an exorbitantly fantastic price, he claimed. However, late in 1921 the Highway Commission sanctioned a proposal of a condemnation suit through the Wasco County Court, which followed and favored Mr. Mayer. This culminated a very unusual transaction in order to enable Mr. Mayer to donate 260 acres of land to the state for park use.

There have been other acquisitions of small acreages for this park, such as two areas totaling 8.3 acres located on the north side of the railroad in 1952 and 1956 at a total cost of $2,872, and another 40-acre tract in 1961 at a cost of $26,570. These transactions brought the total area to 308.30 acres as of the close of 1963.

In general, the area is quite rough with a great difference in elevation between the land near the river and that on top of Rowena Point. The cover is scattered ponderosa pine and oak with indigenous brush as an undercover.

The park development is located on an arm of Bonneville Lake north of the Union Pacific Railroad Company track. It consists of a swimming area, boat ramp 40 x 55 feet, picnic tables, stoves, sanitary facilities and water. Entrance is via Lyle Ferry Road.

Day use at Mayer in 1963 totaled 74,728 visitors. Overnight camping facilities have not been provided.

Oregon State Parks: Meyer State Park

If you need an open invitation to go explore a peaceful tree-lined lake in the summertime, consider yourself invited. Go see west Mayer State Park from the top of Rowena Crest and soak in a view of the most beautiful lake around. Both are actually within Mayer State Park, but few people know that.

From the top of Rowena Crest, Mayer can be fully appreciated for its many amenities, including swimming, boating, fishing and picnicking. When the spring wildflowers are in bloom, this is one of the most stunning vistas in the Columbia River Gorge. The timing of the bloom varies, but is normally in March/April.

The original property for the park, 260 acres, was obtained by a gift from Mark A. Mayer of Mosier in 1924. This property included the Columbia River overlook and the Rowena Loops on the old Columbia River Highway (U. S. 30). From 1956 onward, after the highway was relocated and improved to freeway standards, the purchase of additional park land along the Columbia River and highway right-of-way was negotiated. Various parcels were transferred from the Highway Division to State Parks when they were not needed for highway purposes. The Union Pacific Railroad also passes through the park. Partly forested with ponderosa pine, oak, Douglas fir and maple, much of the land is a rocky river bluff with limited soil. Near the river, there are day-use facilities for swimming and boat access. An outstanding attraction of the park is the view obtained by taking the old highway to the Mayer overlook. The vista is a magnificent panorama of the Columbia River Valley eastward toward The Dalles. In 1946, State Parks Superintendent Sam Boardman recommended keeping the park a wilderness area and asked that the maintenance department remove the sand bunker below the overlook. Adjoining the overlook section of Mayer Park is the Tom McCall Preserve for plants and wildlife. It is named for McCall (1913-1977), who concluded his second term as Governor of Oregon in 1975. The preserve was created between 1978 and 1986 and is owned by The Nature Conservancy.

Acreage: 637.45

Annual day-use attendance: 346,754

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