Your Dog's Travel Guide: Cascade Locks, OR
- Kristina Griffith
- 1 day ago
- 7 min read
The Columbia River Gorge is just absolutely amazing, no matter where you're at. It's hard to pick a Top 10 in the area, so we're breaking it down to smaller towns. Let's start with the cutest place just outside of Portland, Cascade Locks.
The Top 10 dog-friendly places we've visited in Cascade Locks:
10: Gorges Beer Co
This 3 story building has a neat patio on the rooftop with a great view of the Gorge and from some spots you can see the Bridge of the Gods, but it is not covered at all. It was pretty warm on the ground for Callie, and if the wind or rain pick up, not a lot of options.
Beer was good!
PROS: Good beer, good prices, elevator for the older doggos (or people!), dogs allowed in restrooms
CONS: No cover on rooftop patio. Can be closed for private events.
9: Ainsworth State Park
The day use area right along the old Hwy 30 is a nice little underutilized rest stop. There's a flush restroom, and an area with just enough parking for the 5 picnic tables. You can watch the bikers go by in the nice little picnic cove, as there's not a ton of vehicle traffic on this section of Hwy 30 most of the time.
While we have not stayed in the campground here, this is an excellent place to make a home base if you're a hiker, or want to hang out near Cascade Locks. The campground is super shaded, and there are so many trails in the area to explore, and Gorge Trail 400 (which can pretty much get you anywhere nearby) is accessible from the park.
PROS: Super shaded, quiet park, not super busy in day use, near lots of waterfall trails
CONS: Nearby trains operate all day/night. You can hear road noise from Hwy 84. No off-leash area.
8: Columbia River Hwy State Trailheads: Tooth Rock, Bridge of the Gods, Wyeth, John B. Yeon
If your dogs want Gorge walks without the hike, the Columbia River Highway State Trail is for you! Fully paved, and while the trail isn't fully completed, the goal is to connect the Dalles with Troutdale. In the meantime, you can start at any of these sections for a mostly flat walk or bike. (There are some stairs near Eagle Creek, with a bike-assist ramp). Parking can be limited, so you may want to start early in the day if it's nice.
PROS: Fully paved, off-road pathways
CONS: Limited parking, lots of bikes and kids
7: Elowah and Upper McCord Creek Falls Trail in John B. Yeon State Park
This trail is just the perfect length, a little over 3 miles to see both falls, with comfortable inclines and switchbacks most of the way. The top of the Upper McCord Creek trail is a little hairy, especially in the winter with wet shale rock and very steep dropoffs - there are handrails but if you have squirrelly dogs, be mindful.
The path does have a lot of loose shale, my dogs have tough paw pads, but you may want to consider dog boots if needed. Very limited parking.
PROS: Good length even for older dogs, switchbacks make the climb manageable
CONS: Limited parking, busy daytime trail, shale rock on trail, slippery when wet with steep dropoffs
6: Thirsty Coffee Bar
This coffee shop has a walk-up window, so if you don't want to leave the dogs outside, you don't have to! A few small tables are out front, under a short patio cover, but it's there!
Nice shade in the morning, and a good view of the Northernmost Oregon point of the PCT! Good coffee and good eats. Local art inside if you do happen to wander in!
PROS: Walk-up window, great coffee
CONS: Limited outdoor seating
5: Eagle Creek Trail and Eagle Creek Overlook
Let's start with the Overlook - this is actually right under the 84 bridge, and provides easy access to Eagle Creek where it meets the Columbia. There's a group camp here too that you can reserve if you want to have a dog-party! The few times we have visited, the water has been mellow enough to wade in, though it's not been super deep, so not great for heavy swimmers.
PROS: Nice short stroll to see the confluence of Eagle Creek. Wadeable water.
CONS: Very limited parking, if you're not in the group camp, not a lot to do here other than wade.
Eagle Creek Trail is a great one. Officially dogs (and kids) are not recommended to take this trail, as there is one section that is very narrow, with a cliff on one side and a very steep dropoff on the other. If your dogs are good (mindful) hikers, it's not muddy and slick, (and you're not super afraid of heights!!), you will likely be fine. We saw a couple of cats on the trail last time we were there, which was definitely throwing off a lot of dog chill.
The entire trail is 26ish miles, and will take you to Wahtum Lake campground, the backcountry for backpacking, and also meets up with the PCT at the Lake.
Frankly there are no bad views on this trail. It follows Eagle Creek closely for many miles, with waterfalls along the way, including Punchbowl Falls.
PROS: Amazing views, iconic Columbia River Gorge Trail
CONS: Limited parking, narrow, steep trail, steep dropoffs, VERY busy trail in the summer.
4: Wyeth Campground
This gorgeous tree-covered campground is an off the radar stay in the Gorge. With just 13
sites, and 3 group sites, it can be hard to get a weekend site, but it's not impossible. You can walk all the way back to the Bridge of the Gods on the Gorge Trail 400, or take the State Highway Trail East to Starvation Creek Park with a number of waterfalls along the way.
For a quieter, more mellow stroll, check out the trail in the campground to Emerald Falls. If you're into off-trail hiking, you can make it to Gorton Creek falls, just keep following the creek to get there.
PROS: Small campground, lots of trees and shade. Great access to trails.
CONS: If you've got a sun-worshipping dog, find a different campground.
3: Cascade Locks Marine Park
Ok it's just a small park in the middle of town, but there's actually a lot to see/sniff here. The huge open grassy area has tons of picnic tables, and lots of open space to let your dogs sniff through. There's a LARGE dog statue in the park, which caught Mollie off-guard. Good way to see how your dog will do with large dogs? She did not do well.
During fishing season, you can watch the fisherpeople catching salmon right in the park, cross the bridge over to Thunder Island, and get some awesome photos, and see the Bridge of the Gods from the parking lot (more photo ops!). There weren't a lot of people here during our visit, so we also played short-fetch in the grass (shhhh dogs must be on-leash in the park).
There's a (not dog-friendly) museum, RV Park, boat launch, marina, and the Sternwheeler launches from here, and Ixtapa restaurant has a covered outdoor patio. You can also watch ships and sailboats pass by on the river, and the train rolls right through the park as well. It's a good, mellow way to spend a few hours.
PROS: Variety of mellow things to do. Great views of the Columbia River.
CONS: Parking fee. No official off-leash area.
2: Thunder Island Brewing Co.
My people. The food is really good here, and so is the beer - lots of GF, vegan, vegetarian and carnivore options. There's a dog menu with plain beef or chicken for your babies, and local dog treats available as well. The first thing they did was bring a fresh bowl of water for Mollie, no communal slobber bowls here. The patio is covered (though 2nd story, so a bit windy), but there was a nice shaded, nice place for Mollie to lay down.
PROS: Dog-friendly, not just dog-tolerant, atmosphere. The food.
CONS: BUSY. We were there 10 minutes after open and the patio was half full. Expect a wait during peak meal times.
1: Dry Creek Falls
This might be the perfect little Gorge walk/hike. It's 4.6 miles out and back, takes about 3 hours, follows the PCT so you might encounter through-hikers(!), and has a nice waterfall at the end. It's got some incline but you don't feel like you're pushing it, or going to slide your way back down the trail. The trailhead has a lot of parking, and it's overall a great little hike.
Side note: this is where I found out that Mollie was dog-aggressive for the first time. She flipped out on the way back at a cute little pitty, she and Callie surprised me by lunging, and dragged me right into the mud. It was embarrassing on so many levels, but at least now we know, and can work on training.
PROS: Great beginner/easy hike, lots of parking, pretty waterfall and creek for dog-wading.
CONS: BUSY hike, lots of dogs and kids. Parking fee.
Other places we haven't been (yet):
Brigham Fish Market
If you want seafood, this is absolutely the place to go. We've sampled the smoked salmon here, and it was delicious! This Native American-owned business has a large outdoor patio with umbrellas so lots of options for seating during good weather for the dogs.
Whiskey Flats Tavern
They advertise a dog-friendly patio, and are open for breakfast on the weekends!
Best Western Plus Columbia River Inn
Most Best Westerns allow dogs, which is wonderful to know when traveling. This hotel looks like a very nice option in the city. We live too close to justify staying the night here, but read and have heard good things about this specific hotel and restaurant. (Restaurant is not dog-friendly)
Eastwind Drive-in
This is probably the most popular spot in town. Very few tables, this food was meant for grab and go! Dogs are allowed outside, but it is always so crowded and busy, I wouldn't recommend bringing them with you with the expectation to sit and eat.
Where else should we include in this Travel Guide Cascade Locks?
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