Dalles Mountain Ranch

Dalles Mountain Ranch is a historic ranch complex and the upper trailhead on the north side of Columbia Hills Historical State Park, above the Columbia River. Its open, rolling hills draw people for spring balsamroot and lupine, wide Gorge views, and a look around the old buildings. The ranch is listed on Washington's State Register of Historic Places, and interpretive signs explain the site. It was a working cattle ranch; the ranch house and most of its structures became part of State Parks after operations ended in the early 1990s. The appeal is both the landscape and the evidence of the ranch that once worked it.

The upper access is a place to set out on trails, not just a roadside photo stop. The longer Crawford Oaks figure-eight route has a 5-mile lower loop or an 8.5-mile full outing, with up to 1,300 feet of climbing. It follows Eightmile Creek, passes a waterfall and a meadow with an old orchard, then climbs the Vista Loop for views east and west along the Gorge. The upper loop reaches a pond and historic ranch buildings. Take a photo of the trail map at the kiosk and follow the marked posts at junctions; the lower and upper loops run in different directions. Expect an exposed walk over rolling hills, with little shade.

Balsamroot and lupine color the hills in spring, and wildflowers look best with some of the open country around them. For a photo, keep a footpath leading through the flowers in the frame; it shows where the walk goes and gives the hillside scale. The views hold up beyond bloom season, but the lack of shade makes the park's cooler months more comfortable for a longer outing. Wind is common on these open slopes.