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Barlow Road sign, Foster Farm, Eagle Creek, Oregon.
Image taken May 4, 2013.
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The Barlow Road ...
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The Barlow Road was a part of the Oregon Trail. The road was authorized by the Oregon Legislature in 1845, and by September 1846, it made its way around the south side of Mount Hood. This 80-to-110-mile road provided an alternative to the dangerous and expensive route that used rafts to transport wagons down the Columbia River.
The Barlow Road began at The Dalles, Oregon, headed south through Dufur and Tygh Valley (which some folks consider the start of the Barlow Road), then turned west at Gate Creek and generally followed the White River before it headed north through Barlow Pass and Government Camp. It then passed through "Tollgate #5" near today's Rhododendron and continued to the community of Sandy, where it turned west and ended up at Oregon City.
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Follow the Barlow Road ... (east to west)
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Laurel Hill to Rhododendron
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Overview ...
At Laurel Hill the early Barlow Road went from the summit of Laurel Hill at 3,600 feet elevation, descending nearly 2,000 feet to the base of Laurel Hill. At the base of the hill were the "Meeting Rocks" and, between 1871 to 1883, the 4th Tollgate. In 1883 the Tollgate moved a little over three miles west and the 5th Tollgate was built. Today, near the Oregon community of Rhododendron, a replica has been built of that Tollgate.
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Laurel Hill ... "Meeting Rocks" ... Fourth Tollgate (1871 to 1883)
Between 1871 and 1883 the Barlow Road Tollgate (Tollgate #4) was located at the base of Laurel Hill where the wagons regrouped after coming down the trecherous hill. A log cabin called Mountain House was built to accomodate the travelers. This site was also where the Territorial Stage Road (1866 to 1925) rejoined the original Barlow Road. This area is known as the "Meeting Rocks" or "Two-Mile Camp". The approximate location of this fourth Tollgate is south of Highway 26 on USFS Road #440 (also known as "East Wood Lot Road") at the western end of Laurel Hill. The site is about 3.5 miles before reaching the Rhododendron "Tollgate Replica". Follow gravel Road #440 approximately 500 feet to where the Pioneer Bridle Trail crosses. The Bridle Trail path is the old Territorial Stage Route and Road #440 is the old Barlow Road.
According to the Clackamas County and the Wasco County Historical Societies publication "Barlow Road" (1985):
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"... It was a common expression that "if I make it over Laurel Hill I'll meet you at the rock." Recently the "Meeting Rock" was eliminated to make way for a parking area. ..."
(T3S, R8E, Sec.16)
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Fourth Tollgate location, where the Old Stagecoach Road (now the "Pioneer Bridal Trail") crosses the Barlow Road, looking up the Pioneer Bridal Tral.
This area was once known as the "Meeting Rocks" or "Two-mile Camp".
Image taken November 7, 2012.
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Fourth Tollgate location, where the Old Stagecoach Road (now the "Pioneer Bridal Trail") crosses the Barlow Road, looking up the Barlow Road.
View looking east.
This area was once known as the "Meeting Rocks" or "Two-mile Camp".
Image taken June 28, 2013.
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Pioneer Bridle Trail ... Laurel Hill to Rhododendron Tollgate
Today a segment of the Pioneer Bridle Trail follows the old Barlow Road, connecting the Laurel Hill Tollgate with the Rhododendron Tollgate, paralleling Oregon Highway 26 on it's south side.
Excerpt from the Barlow Road National Register of Historic Places Nomination Report, 1992:
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At the base of the second chute, the Barlow Road turned slightly to the north and crossed a short saddle and headed uphill and westerly on Laurel Hill. This saddle is in 1989 traversed by Highway 26. On the north side of the highway, however, the trace of the Barlow Road is easily discernible and leads due west for nearly two miles in a finely preserved segment of the road. This section of the road has excellent historic and visual integrity. The only obtrusive element is a mine shaft on the north side of the road about a quarter mile west of the saddle. This section of the Barlow Road was cleared for the Pioneer Bridle Path in the 1930s and passes through dark strands of virgin conifers. The route also cuts across another prominent talus slope and is clearly demarcated where road builders cleared and terraced the roadbed. ...
Eventually the road operators graded and opened a section of the road on down Laurel Hill, extending west of the second chute. This segment is well-preserved and, since the 1930s, has served as the route of the Pioneer Bridle Path. This segment runs in a westerly direction across the southern half of Section 16. At the foot of Laurel Hill the Barlow Road is obliterated for nearly a mile by the wide cut and grading for Highway 26. This area is used for chaining up vehicles during the winter. There are no traces of the Barlow Road for three-quarters of a mile west of the junction of Highway 26 with old Highway 26 running into the Little Zigzag Canyon. A short road segment is located north of Highway 26 in the SW1/4 of Section 17 and another segment of nearly a quarter mile lies north of the highway in the southern half of Section 18. Highway 26, like the old Barlow Road, runs down the crest of the divide between Camp Creek and the Zigzag River.
..."
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Pioneer Bridle Trail, Mount Hood, Oregon.
Image from where the Bridle Trail crosses the road to Camp Creek.
Image taken August 3, 2012.
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Pioneer Bridle Trail, Mount Hood, Oregon.
Image from where the Bridle Trail crosses the road to Camp Creek.
Image taken August 3, 2012.
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Crossing the Zigzag River ...
(to come)
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Zigzag River ... Joel Palmer's Journal
The term "zigzag" was first used by Joel Palmer on October 11, 1845, who, while scouting out what would become the "Barlow Road", wrote about having to "zigzag" down one ravine on Mount Hood and back up the other side. The term "zigzag" stuck and eventually denoted not only the canyon, but also a mountain, glacier, river, and in 1917, a community.
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"On the morning of October 11th, a consultation was had, when it was determined that Mr. Barlow, Mr. Lock, and myself, should go in advance, and ascertain whether we could find a passage over the main dividing ridge.
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We took some provision in our pockets, an axe, and one rifle, and started.
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we came to a deep kanyon or gulf, cut out by the wash from the mountain above us. A precipitate cliff of rocks, at the head, prevented a passage around it. The hills were of the same material as that we had been traveling over, and were very steep.
I judged the ravine to be three thousand feet deep. The manner of descending is to turn directly to the right, go zigzag for about one hundred yards, then turn short round, and go zigzag until you come under the place where you started from; then to the right, and so on, until you reach the base. In the bottom is a rapid stream, filled with sand. After crossing, we ascended in the same manner ...
Source:
Joel Palmer, October 11, 1845, "Journal of travels over the Rocky Mountains to the mouth of the Columbia River, made during the years 1845 and 1846", IN: Thwaites, R., 1906, Early Western Travels, 1748-1846, vol.XXX
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Tollgate Replica ... Fifth Tollgate (1883 to 1918)
Between 1883 and 1918, the last established and westernmost of the Barlow Road tollgates (Tollgate #5) was located near today's community of Rhododendron. Today a replica of the tollgate is located approximately 3.5 miles west of the "Meeting Rocks Tollgate", and 3/4 of a mile southeast of the community of Rhododendron.
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"... Night of the second day brought us to the old Barlow Tollgate. It looked like any farm gate ... but it was locked and there was no way around it. Thick logs and brush barricated it on both sides ... We paid the 25 cents to pass through ... Lottie Maybee Morris, 1900 ...".
[Information sign, Tollgate Replica, Rhododendron, Oregon, 2011]
Historical photographs of the Rhododendron Tollgate show that three structures once stood at the site. South of the road was a one-story, log house with an attached and enclosed lean-to on its west side. North of the road appeared a projecting, open porch with log supports and a shake roof, perhaps a feature attached to a barn. Farther east but also on the north side of the road was a one and one-half story wood frame building covered with vertical board and batten siding. This structure had a false front on its south (front) side. Fences on a north-south axis blocked travel or stock movement except through the gate.
In 1903, motorized autos began using the Barlow Road. On August 29, 1903, John B. Kelley drove the first car through the gate and up Mount Hood, returning to Government Camp with 50 pounds of snow.
According to the Barlow Road National Register of Historic Places Nomination Report, Oregon Highway 26 has probably covered the original Tollgate #5 site.
In 1968 a replica tollgate was built at the location of the Tollgate #5, a location easily found by large maple trees planted by a former tollgate keeper.
(T3S, R7E, Sec.13)
Excerpt from the Barlow Road National Register of Historic Places Nomination Report, 1992:
"... Highway 26 has, since the 1920s, run directly through this site. It covers the location of the toll house and probably barn. Scattered historic artifacts north of the highway, however, confirm the importance of this site as a stopping point on the road. A concrete footing in the forest may be the site of the Forest guard station located here in the 1930s. ..."
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Information sign, Barlow Road Tollgate Replica.
Image taken September 20, 2011.
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Barlow Road Tollgate Replica.
Image taken September 20, 2011.
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Barlow Road Tollgate Replica.
Image taken September 20, 2011.
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Tollgate Replica ... Maples
Bordering the Tollgate Replica are two large bigleaf maple trees (Acer macrophyllum), believed to have been planted by Daniel Parker, tollgate keeper from 1883 to 1902. In 2007 the State of Oregon declared the two maples as "heritage trees". During the summer of 2011 the Oregon Department of Transportation was forced to cut down the main trunk of the easternmost maple, leaving behind secondary trunks.
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"... The historic Barlow Road is a branch of the Oregon Trail that crossed the southern flank of Mount Hood. Today, a replica of the tollgate stands at the site of the original tollgate, which operated from 1879 until 1915. It is believed that two bigleaf maples were planted adjacent to the tollgate in the 1880s by Daniel Parker, the tollgate keeper at the time. Both tollgate bigleaf maple trees are at the end of their normal life span, but only one of them is leaning toward the highway and posing a hazard.
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The old bigleaf maple to be felled has several stems: a main stem, with a diameter of 25 inches, and three smaller 4- to 6-inch diameter stems growing from the base of the trunk. These three smaller stems, each about 25 feet tall, will be untouched by the project, while the decaying main stem will be reduced to a height of two to three feet. ..."
[U.S. Forest Service website, 2011, Mount Hood National Forest]
Originally the gatekeeper planted three maple trees, with the two parallel to Oregon Highway 26, framing the old toll house.
(T3S, R7E, Sec.13)
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Barlow Road Tollgate Maple.
Image taken September 20, 2011.
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Information sign, Barlow Road Tollgate Maples.
Image taken September 20, 2011.
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Tollgate Campground ...
From the Tollgate Replica, the route of the Barlow Road continues west through the Tollgate Campground.
(T3S, R7E, Sec.11, elevation 1,706 feet)
(45.19.18N, 121.54.23W)
Excerpt from the Barlow Road National Register of Historic Places Nomination Report, 1992:
"... A trace of the Barlow Road continues for another 500 feet through Tollgate Campground and then vanishes under Highway 26 and structures in Rhododendron, Oregon. ..."
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Barlow Road Tollgate Campground.
Image taken September 20, 2011.
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Zigzag River at Tollgate Campground, Mount Hood, Oregon.
View looking upstream from the north bank of the Zigzag River.
Image taken September 20, 2011.
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Rhododendron ...
From the Rhododendron Tollgate Replica the path of the early Barlow Road heads northwest, briefly staying on the west side of today's Oregon Highway 26 until the community of Rhododendron, where it crosses the road and today is under the pavement of East Arlie Mitchell Road. The route then keeps to the ridge north of the Zigzag River and heads west to where the Zigzag River merges with the Sandy River just north of the community of Zigzag. Here the path crosses the Sandy about 1/3 mile above the junction with the Zigzag, at a spot known as the first or "Upper Crossing" of the Sandy River. Roads today following that general route are East Arlie Mitchell Road, Zigzag River Road, East Mountain Drive, and East Lolo Pass Road.
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- NEXT: Rhododendron to Brightwood ... the Road Divides
- Rhododendron ...
- Rhododendron Route Segment ...
- East Rhododendron Segment ...
- West Rhododendron Segment ...
- North Route and South Route ...
- Rhododendron to Brightwood ... North Route
- North Bank Route Segment ... (Rhododendron to Brightwood)
- Rhododendron ... East Arlie Mitchell Road
- Rhododendron ... Henry Creek Crossing
- Following the Zigzag River ...
- Zigzag River Road ...
- East Mountain Drive and East Lolo Pass Road ...
- Sandy River ... "Upper Crossing"
- Following the Sandy River ...
- East Barlow Trail Road ...
- Rhododendron to Brightwood ... South Alternative of the Barlow Road
- "South Alternative of the Barlow Road" ...
- South Bank Route Segment ...
- Re-crossing the Zigzag River and Crossing Still Creek ...
- Zigzag Ranger Station ...
- Wildwood Recreation Site ...
- Heading North ...
- Brightwood ...
- Brightwood ... Salmon River
- Crossing the Sandy River ...
- North and South routes rejoin ...
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