AlanLichty
Moderator
When U.S. freeways got built in the 1950's wholesale terraforming was the order of the day and some of the work that was done is extensive to say the least. This is one example with the case of I-84 near the mouth of the Columbia River Gorge at Rooster Rock State Park. The land that was there was mostly a wetland flood plain near a bend in the river with a spit of land in the midst of sand bars that shifted often at the whim of the water levels and flow rates. At the time the roadway up the Gorge was still what is now called the Historic Highway carved out of the foothills along the river. This historic postcard image taken from Crown Point was the best image I could find online showing what it used to look like from above. The small road on the spit of land in the middle was a dead end.
This is a shot from over what is now Rooster Rock State Park showing the extent of reforming the landscape to accommodate the freeway. The original spit of land is dead center in this 2 shot panorama looking upstream taken in 2023 with some exceptional fall colors. The park itself is almost entirely a summer use facility and is one of the closest parks to the metro area in the Gorge. Needless to say it gets some pretty heavy use on summer weekends as you can see from the size of the parking area and only half of the parking area is visible in this view.
C&C always welcome.
This is a shot from over what is now Rooster Rock State Park showing the extent of reforming the landscape to accommodate the freeway. The original spit of land is dead center in this 2 shot panorama looking upstream taken in 2023 with some exceptional fall colors. The park itself is almost entirely a summer use facility and is one of the closest parks to the metro area in the Gorge. Needless to say it gets some pretty heavy use on summer weekends as you can see from the size of the parking area and only half of the parking area is visible in this view.
C&C always welcome.
