The Columbia River Highway

“America’s Greatest Scenic Asset”

This dramatic aerial view of the Columbia River Highway was designed by the talented Oregon cartographer Fred Routledge and published by the Portland Chamber of Commerce in 1923. Topographical details, depicted pictorially, are cleverly intertwined with directional information. A distance table and recommended itineraries for trips ranging from a half-hour to three days are provided in the lower left. Numerous pictorial insets highlight the region’s natural beauty. According to Craig Clinton in the Oregon Historical Quarterly;

“The map looks eastward up the river to Maryhill, where the wealthy businessman and Good Roads advocate Sam Hill erected a magnificent residence, and westward to Astoria and the Pacific. A highway extending south from Portland carries the eye to Ashland and the Oregon-California state line, while a string of volcanic peaks is depicted, beginning with Mount Hood south of the river and extending to Mount Shasta in California. The High Desert of central Oregon is shown at the top of the map, and throughout can be seen a network of roadways connecting the various communities. With his remarkable bird’s-eye perspective, Routledge unfolds the astonishing terrain comprising a vast portion of Oregon while the map’s verso provides written information useful to travelers or tourists and an inset map of Portland.”

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