I just wanted to create a short article on my personal top three things to see in Hood River for the beginning of 2020.  First, up is a nice walk along the Columbia River near “The Waterfront” in Hood River as I have heard the locals say or even the Waterfront Park.  I suggest this because it is the start of a one day excursion that will be the beginning of a fun filled sightseeing tour of this valley and the have great food to start.

If you cannot find the Waterfront park on Google you can type in Solstice, Stoked Coffee Roasters, or Tofurkey to find the area you should head towards.  If you go to any of these on Google maps, or Apple maps for that matter you will see hopefully lots of parking and you can then take a walk around the river, get some coffee or food, let the kids play as you enjoy the view of the water, hopefully it will be a nice sunny day so you can see the surrounding beauty of the Columbia Gorge.

I would then head next to what is known as the “Fruit Loop”.  The fruit loop is a collection of stopping points at/near Hood River that will allow you to buy locally grown and prepared fruit, food, and artisanal hand made and small batch goods.  There are various stopping points along the way such as an antique store in (The Old Trunk), a lavender field, and other places where you can buy homemade jams, jellies, and other various nice locally made products.

On the way to a small town outside the fruit loop, you will come outside of Hood River, and along a highway called Dee Highway, you can enjoy the view of Mt Hood before reaching Parkdale.  The view on a clear day is breathtaking and I highly suggest you have your camera ready for some nice pictures of Mt Hood at this point.

This brings me to my 3rd must see here in Hood River, of course the beautiful Mt Hood.  The beauty of the mountain never gets old, and as mentioned this is along the way to Parkdale where you can view this awesome sight.

Once in Parkdale I highly suggest you stop in and see the small local museum and have lunch at a place called Apple Valley Country BBQ.  They have top notch food and I highly recommend this place.

Past Parkdale, and still on the fruitloop, you will come across various other places to stop on this Fruit Loop.  Though not as scenic, there is a lookout point along the road on a highway called highway 35 which leads back to Hood River.

 

So, to sum up….

1.) Columbia River

2.) Fruit Loop

3.) Mt Hood

 

These are my three must see things in Hood River and I hope you enjoy them.