Widby Loops

Page Index

• Widby Loops Shoefly

• Loop 1

• Loop 2

• Loop 3

• Loop 4 and the 43-Foot Wall

Just past Bradley Park... While not quite a loss equal to the loss of the Mitchell Point Tunnel, and not as complete of a loss, it is a shame that these have been damaged and abandoned.

So are they the Widby Loops or the Bugby Loops?

Most of the material I found earlier on referred to them as the Bugby Loops (or Bugbee), as you can see. Chronologically, though, I noticed the name Widby showing up in more recent images of the loops.

So, early on, they were described as the Bugby Loops by the OHC because they were the loops up to the top of Bugby Mountain. Later on, they started being called the Widby Loops in honor of the engineer who designed them.

Past and Present Views Along the Columbia River Highway

Kirk J. Poole, September 16, 2019:

The engineer from the Corps of Engineers was named Lieutenant Widby. Also, over the same years the locals called it Bugby Loops. As far as all my reading over the years, the more official term is Widby Loops.

Larry Humphrey, February 7, 2021:

"In 1914, J.L. Widby was resident engineer of the OSHD during the construction of these loops, and an assistant, Earl Withycombe, prepared a sign reading 'Widby Loops,' which was nailed to a tree nearby."

Past and Present Views Along the Columbia River Highway

Larry Humphrey, February 8, 2021:

From what my folks told me, fog was so thick some times that a passenger would have to get out of the car and guide the driver around the corners until it was clear enough to see the road through the windshield . If you were alone, then following some other car would be your guide. Lots of wrecks on these loops through the years.

Carole Milleson, February 8, 2021:

I bet. I drive 30 from the coast atleast once a month. That fog is scary!

Clatsop County Historical Society

Kathleen Wright Thompson Metzler, August 16, 2020:

Rode with parents to Astoria from Westport many times. Car sickness was real!!

De Raymer, August 16, 2020:

How well I remember this road. When we would take a bus to Portland or Salem Mom always brought a large jar and bag for my poor brother.

Jan Conatore, September 19, 2020:

Memories of going to Portland, the Wolf Creek (Sunset) was somewhat better, but car sickness was real! Now we have Scopolamine patches, so I can go one cruises!

Patricia Krumm, March 11, 2021:

Back seat was the worst!

Tessa Krumm, March 11, 2021:

Patricia Krumm, reminds me of the time we played corners and the guac spilled all over Grandpa

"We settled down to swallow our portion of Columbia River dust until we hove in sight of Bugby Point, when we forgot all about the dust and dirt at the sight spread out before us. We had read and heard people talk about Bugby Point, but in all we have read and heard, nothing had conveyed to our mind the natural beauty, magnitude, and awe-inspiring spectacle. The climb over this point begins in the wildest, rocky place along the river between Clatskanie and Astoria, and five hairpin loops have been constructed to gain the top of this 725-foot climb. The real beauty of this trip is not fully realized until the top is reached. Here the spectacle is spread out before one in a panorama view of the river far below, and Cathlamet across over in Washington appears so close that one could almost heave a rock down upon the little city."

"On the Columbia River Highway, there are several viewpoints, either one of which is an asset that will more than repay the cost of construction. Of them all, Bugby Point is by no means the least. This barrier has been surmounted by a series of loops which for two miles affords a wonderful panorama of river, wooded hills, cultivated valleys and thriving towns."

"This magnificence will probably attract many people desiring locations for summer homes."

Bowlby also added that a large tract of logged-off land lying south of the highway on Bugby Mountain was suitable for agriculture.

First Annual Report of the Highway Engineer for the Period Ending November 30, 1914

SPECIAL FEATURES OF CONSTRUCTION OVER BUGBY MOUNTAIN

Section No. 4, Miles 22 to 28, from Hunt Creek over Bugby Mountain to Westport, was the most difficult and by far the most interesting part of the construction work. The east side of this mountain is very rugged, making necessary three miles of construction on a 5 per cent descending grade, in a number of places along sheer perpendicular bluffs from 50 to 400 feet high. On 60 per cent of this three miles the slopes were so steep that fills would not hold. To cut into the hill for the entire roadbed made the excavation exceedingly heavy and expensive.

The rock in this vicinity stood up well under the weather and upon testing proved to be fair masonry rock. Nine dry rubble masonry walls were planned to hold the embankment and decrease the excavation. These walls ranged from six to 20 feet in height, and from 25 to 800 feet in length. Three additional dry masonry retaining walls were also planned on the loops; the first one, 44 feet in height and 320 feet long, containing 1,200 superficial yards in the face; the second, 50 feet in height and 240 feet long, containing 1,000 superficial yards in the face; and the third, 36 feet in height and 300 feet in length, containing 700 superficial yards in the face.

Many line adjustments were made in order to balance quantities in excavation and embankment where, on account of unexpected material in the excavation, the proper allowance could not be made in advance for swell and shrinkage. In this process of adjustment, six of the twelve dry masonry walls originally planned were eliminated, and the length of the 800-foot one reduced to 700 feet. The yardage was increased at these points with a corresponding decrease in classification, and in each case the most economical plan was adopted. Of the rest of the walls, three, including the largest one at the first loop, have been constructed, so that altogether about 2,800 superficial yards of dry masonry have been placed. The other three walls, on account of the lack of suitable rock in the adjacent cuts, could not be economically constructed until the cuts had been removed, thereby making a roadbed over which suitable rock could be transported from the excavation above. These last three walls are now in process of construction, and as this work can be carried on during the winter months, they will be completed very soon.

Michael C. Taylor, Road of Difficulties: Building the Lower Columbia River Highway

Bisected by the current highway in 1955, abandoned segments can still be followed on foot. Still visible are a 30-foot by 300-foot rubble wall and evidence of a drinking fountain. Today's highway traveler passes the former site of the Bugby Loops without knowing they ever existed.

Nine dry-rubble masonry walls were designed to hold the embankment and decrease excavation; three additional walls were also planned on the loops. A drinking fountain was also meant to stand at roadside near Dorothy Creek. No trace of this fountain, if it was ever installed.

Past and Present Views Along the Columbia River Highway

Brian Colburn, February 8, 2021:

It would be awesome if the existing loops on the south side of the present highway could be rehabilitated as a detour path for bicyclists.

Larry Humphrey, February 7, 2021:

When I was 10 years old and Lived in Taylorville, Oregon (which was about 1 mile east of the beginning of the loops upward), I and two other kids rode our bikes close to half way up the loops and coasted back down again.

My dad bought me an English bike after the new highway was put in and again I and a couple friends rode way up the hill and then down... but... the English bike (narrow tires and light weight) made me last coasting down to the bottom as the other kids had the heavier ones. Must of coasted at least 35 mph, maybe more.

Stephen Kemper, February 7, 2021:

I've actually thought it would be fun to go to the top of the first loop and ride a bike down the hill. There's a few blackberries that would need to be cleared first though...

Past and Present Views Along the Columbia River Highway

Kirk J. Poole, September 8, 2020:

Look for the grassy area where you can park, going eastbound. That grass is one-half of the old Loop 3. Above you some 60 feet is Loop 1. Loops 2 and 4 are across the highway in the stands of younger trees on the river side of the road. If you get to Loop 2, look down below and you will see Loop 4. Nothing has bare asphalt, it's all juvenile trees, grass and ferns, or in the case of Loop 1; all blackberry bushes. Be prepared to cut a trail to Loop 1.

Stephen Kemper, November 4, 2019:

Yesterday, Kirk J. Poole and myself met up at what is left of the Widby Loops. We parked right off the highway on all that is left of loop 3. We then walked up the highway to where we had cut a path last month, leading up to loop 1. We hiked in all the way around the first loop and continued until we reached a wall of blackberries. We got busy with the tools we brought and cut a path right through the blackberries and continued as far as we could up the loop until we reached the end of the road.

After accomplishing that, we hiked back down and decided we had enough time to take a look on the other side of the highway to look for loops 2 and 4. We drove up the highway just a little farther and parked. Walking along the side of the highway, we found a spot that looked promising. There was a wide path where there was no tall trees, just grass and ferns. Walking along that we soon found where it started to curve to the left, More importantly, we found some solid roadway under the leaves. We were walking on loop 2!

Following the old roadway back towards the new highway, both of us kept a sharp lookout for loop 4, which we knew was somewhere down to our left. And sure enough, we spotted a nice curve covered in leaves below us. Loop 4 was found!

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