Hood River
Heritage District · Hood River, Oregon
A town of about eight thousand on the Columbia at the mouth of the Hood River, and the place the Columbia Gorge wind made famous. The canyon funnels a reliable summer westerly straight up the river against the current, which produces the flat-water-and-strong-wind combination windsurfers and kiteboarders want, and from the early 1980s it turned an orchard town into an international sailing destination. Behind it the Hood River Valley runs south to Mount Hood through fruit orchards.
Oak Street, Hood River, Oregon, 97031, United States
The town is open all year and free to walk. ⚠ THE WIND IS THE SCHEDULE: the gorge westerly builds through the middle of the day in summer, so the waterfront sailing scene is an early-afternoon spectacle rather than a morning one. Shops, breweries and restaurants keep their own hours and several close midweek outside the summer season. A small day-use parking fee applies at the waterfront sailing sites. Summer lodging books out on windy weekends. Public consumption of alcohol on sidewalks and in parks is unrestricted here, which is unusual in Oregon.