Oneonta Gorge

1946 State Parks Report: Oneonta Parking Space

Oneonta Parking Space at Highway Mile Post 34.31 is situated at the west end of the Oneonta tunnel. In the leisurely days of past years, this site was a railroad flag station, where many came on The Dalles local in the early forenoon and returned to Portland in the early evening with creekswell filled with trout taken from this beautiful stream that flows quietly though a narrow, enchanting gorge, its high cliffed wall clothed with moss, lichens, in abundance of drooping maiden hair ferns and a liberal sprinkling of golden mimulus (monkey flowers) to enrich the general effect. However, the average visitor must view it afar, as the stream bed is the only pathway to the falls a thousand feet or more distant.

Due to the crowding of the precipitous cliffs at both ends of this stoplight tunnel, the highway has encroached upon the Oregon-Washington Railroad Company's right of way and the limited parking space is their property, which they graciously leased to the State that travelers may have a chance to stop and glimpse the spectacular rock point and the very interesting Oneonta Gorge picture.

W. A. Langille

State Parks Historian

December 5, 1945

Recommendations:

A long-term lease should be obtained on this tract or it should be purchased.

S. H. Boardman

State Parks Superintendent

March 25, 1946

Oregon State Archives: A 1940 Journey Across Oregon

ONEONTA GORGE, 156.9 m. [West of Hwy. 730 Junction], is a deep, narrow cleft in the basalt bluff through which flows a foaming creek. Fossilized trees caught by a lava flow, are entombed in its perpendicular walls.

"About two miles beyond Multnomah Falls, Oneonta Gorge appears. The lower falls on the creek is accessible to the more adventurous traveler who is willing to chance walking up the creek about one-half mile... The creek, flowing northward from the falls, follows an apparent fault to its mouth on the banks of the Columbia."

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