Columbia River Gorge and Mt. Hood Travel Guide with Kristy of Willa Wanders
Kristy of Willa Wanders with her pup and Willa the Airstream
From towering waterfalls and dramatic basalt cliffs to alpine lakes and Oregon's tallest peak, the Columbia River Gorge and Mt. Hood are two of the Pacific Northwest's most unforgettable destinations. In this episode of the RV Out West Podcast, host Brooks welcomes Oregon photographer & RV wanderer, Kristy, of Willa Wanders to share the story behind her passion for exploring the region and why these landscapes continue to inspire her adventures.
Kristy takes listeners on a journey through the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, highlighting some of her favorite viewpoints, waterfalls, hiking trails, scenic drives, and small towns that make this stretch of the Pacific Northwest a must-visit destination. If you're planning your first trip or looking to experience the Gorge beyond the most popular stops, you'll discover practical travel tips and firsthand advice.
The conversation then climbs into the shadow of Mount Hood, Oregon's highest peak and a year-round playground for outdoor enthusiasts. Kristy shares recommendations for exploring Mt. Hood's scenic byways, hiking opportunities, historic landmarks, and seasonal activities, along with advice for RV travelers looking to make the most of the area.
If you're searching for the best things to do in the Columbia River Gorge, planning a Mt. Hood road trip, looking for Oregon travel ideas, or seeking RV-friendly destinations in the Pacific Northwest, this episode offers just what you need for planning your own Oregon and Pacific Northwest adventure.
SHOW NOTES
Columbia River Gorge and Mt. Hood Travel Guide with Kristy of Willa Wanders
The Columbia River Gorge and Mt. Hood are two of Oregon's most spectacular destinations for RV travelers, hikers, photographers, and outdoor enthusiasts. In this episode of RV Out West, Brooks Smothers sits down with Oregon photographer, teacher, and travel creator Kristy of Willa Wanders to explore waterfalls, hiking trails, scenic drives, campgrounds, photography locations, and road trip ideas throughout the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area and Mt. Hood.
Kristy shares how purchasing her Airstream "Willa" launched her travel adventures, why the Gorge remains her favorite region in Oregon, and her favorite places to experience throughout every season. From famous waterfalls like Multnomah Falls to lesser-known hiking trails, scenic viewpoints, Harvest Hosts, historic campgrounds, and Mt. Hood's alpine lakes, this episode is filled with practical travel advice for planning your next Pacific Northwest adventure.
In This Episode
Meet Kristy of Willa Wanders
Why the Columbia River Gorge is one of Oregon's premier outdoor destinations
Favorite waterfalls and hiking trails
The Historic Columbia River Highway
Best times of year to visit the Gorge
RV camping recommendations
Harvest Hosts throughout Hood River and the Gorge
Exploring Mt. Hood year-round
Favorite campgrounds near Mt. Hood
Timberline Lodge and its fascinating history
Hood River Fruit Loop
Photography locations around Mt. Hood
Places Mentioned
Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area https://www.fs.usda.gov/crgnsa
Mount Hood National Forest https://www.fs.usda.gov/mthood
Historic Columbia River Highway https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=park.profile&parkId=113
Multnomah Falls https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/crgnsa/recarea/?recid=30026
Timed Use Permit Information (seasonal) https://www.recreation.gov/timed-entry/10089144
Rowena Crest Viewpoint https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=park.profile&parkId=173
Dog Mountain Trail https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/giffordpinchot/recarea/?recid=31134
Wahclella Falls Trail https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/Wahclella_Falls_Loop_Hike
Beacon Rock State Park https://parks.wa.gov/find-parks/state-parks/beacon-rock-state-park
Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail https://www.nps.gov/lecl
Campgrounds Mentioned
Ainsworth State Park https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=park.profile&parkId=105
Memaloose State Park https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=park.profile&parkId=117
Viento State Park https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=park.profile&parkId=121
Beacon Rock State Park Campground https://parks.wa.gov/find-parks/state-parks/beacon-rock-state-park
Harvest Hosts https://harvesthosts.com
Camp Creek Campground https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232374
Frog Lake Campground https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232143
Lost Lake Resort & Campground https://lostlakeresort.org
Trillium Lake Campground https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232173
Places Around Mt. Hood
Timberline Lodge https://www.timberlinelodge.com
Hood River Fruit Loop https://hoodriverfruitloop.com
Hood River, Oregon https://hoodriver.org
Follow Kristy of Willa Wanders
Website: https://willawanders.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/willawanders
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@willawanders
More Oregon Travel Resources
Travel Oregon https://traveloregon.com
Oregon State Parks https://stateparks.oregon.gov
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Podcast Episode Transcript (EP208):
Columbia River Gorge and Mt. Hood Travel Guide with Kristy of Willa Wanders
Brooks, Host Sometimes the places we think were just passing through end up changing us the most. Today you'll hear about one of those special places in Oregon. Welcome to RV Out West. I'm your host, Brooks. My family of four is base camp is located in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, and our RV adventures radiate out from there. Please grab a mug of coffee and join us as we discuss our RVing around the American West. From sweet camping spots, gear and equipment to tips and tricks, we've got you covered. We are RV out west. Every road has a story and every campground, mountain pass and small town has something to teach us if we're willing to look a little closer. Welcome to RV Out West. I'm Brooks, and I'm very grateful you're here. Before we chat with our guest today, I did want to share something with you. If you enjoy RV out West and want to help keep the show rolling, I'd be incredibly grateful for your support for less than a cost of a cup of coffee each month. You can help keep new episodes coming and support the stories, conversations, and adventures we share every week. If you'd like to chip in, just click the support link in this episode. Description. Your support truly means a lot. Thank you for being a part of the journey. Today's guest is Kristi, the creator behind Willow wanders through a love for life on the road. Kristi has built a community centered on exploring beautiful places, embracing the unexpected, and finding connection through travel. She shares with us how her journey began, the experiences that have shaped her along the way, and what continues to inspire her to keep wandering, including Oregon's Columbia River gorge and the Mount Hood area. Kristi, I'm so happy you're joining us. Welcome to RV Out West.
Kristy, Willa Wanders I'm excited to talk with you. Thank you for having me on the podcast too.
Brooks, Host I love having more Pacific Northwesterners here to talk about the Pacific Northwest. But first, let's start with. For people who may not know Christy and Willow wanders yet. Tell us your story. What started your passion for exploring the outdoors and sharing these adventures with others?
Kristy, Willa Wanders So I have to give credit to a coworker of mine years ago. Um, I was just getting ready to leave work as a teacher, which is my regular job outside of content creation. And I think we were heading off on spring break or something. And one of my colleagues, um, pulled up in a little travel trailer, loaded up some stuff, and then she and her family hit the road and it just got the wheels turning a little bit where I realized, you know, that would be pretty amazing. I have a dog and love time in nature. And so to be able to have a way to have kind of a consistent feeling of, uh, you know, having the same place to sleep each night, know where my stuff is located, but still be able to go out and see all the beautiful parts of this country and the Pacific Northwest, especially just was really appealing to me as a person who loves the outdoors. And so then I just kind of started looking at pictures and learning about things online and just got a bit of a friendly, playful obsession with Airstreams for years. I just thought that they were so cool and vintagey, but still comfortable and accessible. I just wanted one. And so for years and years I saved up until finding a deal in twenty nineteen that was just right and we were able to purchase one. And the rest is kind of history. Ever since then, I have built a social media following through my account, Willow Wanders, where I've shared my journey to national parks and places in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. I like to feature a lot of travel information along the way, as well as wildlife. Because I previously worked as a conservation educator at the Oregon Zoo, so animals and wildlife is something that's really exciting to me. And yeah, so for anyone who is interested in following along with the adventure, I would love to have you join our community at Willow Wanders because Willow is the name of my Airstream.
Brooks, Host So two things. One, what kind of Airstream is Willow? Why did you decide on that model? What did you choose? And then tell me why. Willa.
Kristy, Willa Wanders So, uh, Willa is a twenty seventeen Airstream sport twenty two FB, which means she's twenty two feet and it's a front bedroom model. One year on my birthday, I was asked, what do you want to do for your birthday? And I was like, honestly, I just want to go to the Airstream dealership and just go look and dream. And while there, I kind of fell in love with the twenty two foot model. For me, it was large enough to feel comfortable and be able to store all the basic amenities that I was looking for, but also small enough that it's going to fit into a huge amount of campsites and parking spots, because it's roughly the same length as a truck, like a pickup truck. So, um, it gives me a lot of flexibility with travel and it's just been a great size. And then you asked, why Willa? Do you mean why I named it Willa?
Brooks, Host Yeah. Okay. What's the name behind Willa? How did that come to be?
Kristy, Willa Wanders So Willa's full name is Willamette. And that's because I am from the Portland, Oregon area, which is in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. And so Willamette is a bit more of a mouthful. And so she goes by Willa for short.
Brooks, Host I love it. That's so cool. Well, let's get into some fun things where, um, one question. Are you a born and raised Oregonian?
Kristy, Willa Wanders I was technically born in Boston. Um, but I've been here since nineteen ninety, which was before I even started kindergarten. So all of my real formative years I've been in Oregon. Um, my family, we were in Boston briefly, and then I lived on a tropical island in the middle of the Pacific for a year for my dad's job. And then we decided to plant our roots in Oregon. So this is always felt like home to me.
Brooks, Host Well, so when you think about the Columbia River gorge and and Mount Hood, high level, what makes these places special compared to other destinations in Oregon?
Kristy, Willa Wanders Yeah. I mean, the gorge, the Columbia River gorge is probably my favorite region of the entire state. It's absolutely beautiful. No matter if you're going in the spring with all the wildflowers or if you're traveling in the summer with the incredible views of kite surfers on the Columbia River, or even in the winter when there's snow, the Columbia River gorge area is just an outdoor lovers Paradise. Um, and then from that region, it's easy to pop up to Mount Hood, which gives you a more traditional mountain setting for wintertime activities like skiing, snowboarding, sledding, um, as well as summertime. There's a lot of beautiful hikes and lakes and also some cool lodges and stuff to visit. So it's, it gives you a little bit of everything you could possibly want.
Brooks, Host Do you ski or snowboard?
Kristy, Willa Wanders Not well, I can ski.
Brooks, Host That wasn't my question. I wasn't asking if you're throwing back scratches off of cliffs and.
Speaker 3 No.
Kristy, Willa Wanders Um, I, I mean, growing up here, we've all gone up to the mountain, so I definitely can stay up on skis and snowboards. Um, but I tend to be a bit more timid with adventure sports, so I like to go slowly down the mountain. I'm definitely not going to be spotted on triple black diamonds anytime soon.
Brooks, Host Fair enough, fair enough. We're big. I'm a big snowboarder and my son is a big skier, so he and I are season's pass holders and we go up as many weekends as possible.
Speaker 3 Where are your favorite spots to go?
Brooks, Host Well, so we go to Stevens Pass.
Speaker 3 Mhm.
Brooks, Host I mean, I love going to Mount Baker. In fact, in high school, my buddies and I would bomb down to Mount Hood because Mount Hood would be open at the end of May. Yeah. Memorial weekend we would go down and we would be in like shorts and t shirts and baseball hats and sunglasses, you know? And we were too broke to buy a lift ticket. So we'd find a spot to go and we would just go up and hike and then ride down and then go back up and hike and ride back down. But it was fun.
Kristy, Willa Wanders Those are the kind of things you can't do it like that anymore. But it's fun to look back and.
Brooks, Host Right?
Speaker 3 Yeah.
Kristy, Willa Wanders Have the memories. I don't know that I'm going to be hiking up to ski or snowboard down, But I know as a kid I probably would have done the same thing.
Brooks, Host Yeah, it was fun. Well, and, you know, I want to go back to talking specifically now. Let's kind of roll into the Columbia River gorge. Okay. When someone visits and experiences the Columbia River gorge for the first time with their RV, what is the experience that they should expect? And how would you describe that feeling of what it's like to be there?
Kristy, Willa Wanders I think the word that comes to mind is awe. Um, there's just so many viewpoints where you just want to drop your jaw and take in the beauty. It's, it's a location of the country and of the Pacific Northwest that really makes me pause and just appreciate the stunning geography and views of nature all around us. I think that's what stands out to me the most when I'm there. But as you get to explore it a little bit closer, you find that there's a lot more diversity in what can be explored? Both forest settings, farm settings, being on the river and doing adventure sports as well as mountainous areas. There's just a huge variety and that makes it a really nice place to travel to.
Brooks, Host I did an episode a a little bit ago, a few months ago, and I'll link to it in the show notes, but it was all about the tail end of the Lewis and Clark journey. Oh, yeah. If you were from an RV, like from an RV ers perspective, kind of coming out of Idaho through the Columbia River gorge out to the dolls. Every time I'm in the Columbia River gorge, I just sit there. To your point, being in awe. But then I go back to the time frame that Meriwether, Lewis and and Clark were doing it, and there were no roads. There was no RVs. Mhm. And to be in that beauty in a wagon is Just crazy.
Kristy, Willa Wanders I completely agree. I taught fourth grade for many years, and a big part of social studies for fourth grade was the Oregon Trail. So we would study a lot of that pathway and look at the journal entries that, um, the Corps of Discovery. That's the group that traveled with Lewis and Clark, what they would write down about what they saw along the way. And there's a lot of really neat passages about the vastness of the Columbia River, kind of their amazement of getting to the Pacific Ocean for the first time.
Brooks, Host We've covered a lot already from Kristi's journey creating Willow wanders to some of the incredible places that have shaped her travels, including parts of the Columbia River Gorge and Mount Hood. We've even traced the footsteps of Lewis and Clark through one of the Pacific Northwest's most iconic landscapes. When we return, we jump right into a few of the best ways to explore these areas and some great places to camp when you're out visiting. Stay with us. I'm Brooks and you're listening to RV Out West. First, a word from our sponsor over at scenic wa dot com. Discover all twenty nine of Washington State's scenic byways, with Scenic Washington's twenty twenty six guidebook and map packed with route details and must see stops. Best of all, it's free. Pick up one at visitor centers all across the state or at scenic wa dot com. You can also click the link right there in this episode's podcast description. So order yours today. What are you waiting for? Start planning your next adventure. Welcome back to RV Out West. I'm your host, Brooks. Let's get right back into our conversation with Kristi from Willow wanders over on Instagram and TikTok. Well, the gorge has incredible mix of waterfalls. Being one of the most famous is Multnomah Falls because its access is pretty easy to get to right off the interstate. But cliffs and rivers and forests and cool small towns, you know? How do you recommend people experience all of the diversity of this particular area?
Kristy, Willa Wanders Yeah, I definitely think that hiking, there's a huge variety of hikes depending on what difficulty you're looking for. And based on the season, it might point you in a certain direction. Um, so in the springtime, there's several hikes that are known for having beautiful wildflowers. Rowena crest is one to check out. Um, there's a very famous hike that I personally haven't done yet called Dog Mountain. It's supposed to have spectacular spring blooms and some of the best Pacific Northwest views of the gorge. Um, it's also incredibly challenging. And every year there's people that head off on a really hot day and don't bring enough water and have a hard time with it. So if you are going to tackle Dog Mountain, um, sometimes there's permits, especially in the spring time, to limit the amount of people that do it each day, but also make sure that physically you're prepared to handle a pretty steep and not shaded hike as well. But there are also a lot of hikes that are much more accessible for kids and families. That would be wonderful as well. Um, you mentioned Multnomah Falls. If you've never done it before, that's a must do. It is a very tourist attracting waterfall. So I definitely recommend going first thing in the morning so that you can avoid a lot of the crowds. If you are not a big hiker, you can still go to the bottom of it and get a spectacular view. You can also do a short walk up to the observation bridge that goes in front of Multnomah Falls. And if you're hoping to tackle a little bit longer of a hike, you can hike to the top. I have done the hike to the top before. Honestly, the view from the top is not as spectacular as a lot of people think it is. It's fun to say that you've done it and so it's something to check off the bucket list. But if you're looking for a hike where you can see all of the gorge, Multnomah Falls isn't necessarily going to give you that view. But like I said, it's fun to say you went to the top of Multnomah Falls, so it's still worth checking out. One of my favorite waterfall hikes, though, in the gorge is much easier. It is called Walla Falls, and Walla Falls has a very small parking lot, so I definitely recommend carpooling if you're able to going it not peak hours or preparing to park further away and then walk back because there is limited parking, but it's a fairly easy to moderate hike that'll take you maybe like an hour or so. It takes you to this beautiful waterfall that's just very lush and green. It feels like you're in a little hidden area, um, within the forest. It just makes for a really beautiful pictures because it's very wide and impressive and you can get decently close to it. And then you can hike back along a little creek back to your car. There's a lot of other hikes that are perfect for a variety of levels. Beacon Rock is a fun one that's on the Washington side of the gorge. Beacon Rock is fairly short. It would be under an hour, but it is pretty steep. But again, not a lot of distance. So there's a lot of switchbacks that are right on the edge of a cliff. There's railings, so it is safe. But if you're someone who's scared of heights, it might be one to reconsider. But once you get to the top, that is a place where you have incredible wide panoramic views of the gorge. And then if you are not a hiker, you can also just drive the historic Columbia River highway, which is the old highway, and it's the scenic route. Again, there's times of the year that there could be permits. Um, so just check with Odot, which is the Oregon transportation, or check with the National Forest Service. And you can find more information about if there's any kind of permits in place.
Brooks, Host Which one's been your favorite thus far?
Kristy, Willa Wanders Ooh.
Brooks, Host Of the ones you just mentioned, which one's been your favorite?
Speaker 4 I love what Clella falls.
Kristy, Willa Wanders Because you get a lot of payoff without having to use up all of your energy for the day, and then it gives you more time to go do another hike or go get a nice meal or explore somewhere else. So that's probably my favorite.
Brooks, Host Okay, cool. Is there a particular season when you think the gorge really shines.
Speaker 4 Ooh.
Kristy, Willa Wanders Uh, spring and summer definitely come to mind. Fall is also beautiful, but it can be impacted by wildfires or the smoke from distant wildfires. But the springtime, you just get incredible flowers that are just covering the hills. You can oftentimes Google wildflower reports and see the different hikes and what's in bloom and what colors you'll see. Um, it'll also give you reports of the best times to go. So spring is definitely a winner. You will get some rainy days. Uh, summer is also really, really beautiful. You're just going to need to prepare for some more heat throughout the summer as well.
Brooks, Host Okay, where are some cool places that I should be camping and parking my rig if I'm down in that particular area?
Kristy, Willa Wanders Quite honestly, when I visit the Columbia Gorge, my favorite places to go are harvest host locations. There's quite a few incredible options for harvest host days. I've stayed at fruit farms with views of Mount Hood. I've stayed at vineyards, I've stayed at orchards, there's breweries, so there's a lot of options. But the cool thing about that area is that a lot of these small businesses have really nice views, and so it can be kind of a quiet, peaceful place to stay. There are a lot of state parks in the area that you can check out. Ones like Ainsworth or Memaloose or Viento, or even beacon Rock State Park. A lot of those have campgrounds that allow RVs. Some of them are not hookups, so they might be dry camping. The one thing I would say is with a lot of the state park campgrounds, not all of them, but a lot of them tend to be closer in the gorge, closer to the highway. It tends to just be more white noise in the background. But if that's something that would be bothersome to you, then you might want to find a location more like a harvest host, where you can get a little bit further off of the highway.
Brooks, Host That makes sense. We're not going to talk much. I don't think about hood River, but again, I've done a whole destination travel guide for hood River. And so if anybody is wanting information about hood River, it has the town. You can go check that out on Rvusa dot com. But from the dramatic cliffs and the waterfalls of the gorge, which are absolutely stunning. Let's head to Oregon's most recognizable landmark, Mount Hood. It is such an iconic part of Oregon's landscape, and it's one of the things I personally love about visiting Portland, because in Portland, on a good day, Mount Hood is right there as a sentinel standing over the city. And it's just beautiful. So what makes Mount Hood a destination that people really should be adding to their RV travel list?
Kristy, Willa Wanders Mount hood is a great place because it has really four seasons of interest. There's great hiking and alpine lakes, which is nice. In the summer you can camp there. There's some beautiful options, but in the winter there's also like we talked about skiing and snowboarding, and there's also a lot of pretty scenic drives that you can take. So for those people who are winter campers, I know not everybody is. There's definitely four seasons with things to do around the year.
Brooks, Host I have a question. Yeah. Is there a place like so my local mountain in Stevens Pass, they have an RV lot. All it has is electrical. It doesn't have water and it doesn't have a dump. Do you know, is there a place up in Mount Hood where one can park their RV to do a ski in ski out from their trailer?
Kristy, Willa Wanders Good question.
Brooks, Host I'm just curious.
Kristy, Willa Wanders Yeah, I haven't when I've gone skiing or snowboarding, I haven't brought the RV. So I don't know a lot about the specific amenities. I know that the parking lot is decently spacious, and so it should have room for RV parking. I just don't know a lot about if there's electric hookups or.
Brooks, Host Or can you do overnight in your RV.
Kristy, Willa Wanders That I'm not sure about?
Brooks, Host Okay, no big deal.
Kristy, Willa Wanders I know that there's campgrounds nearby where you definitely can.
Brooks, Host Well, let's talk about certain towns or areas around Mount Hood that make for good base camps for exploring. What do you have you recommend and what should people check out in base Camp from?
Kristy, Willa Wanders Yeah, so there's this specific campground. Well, I would say the rhododendron area that's a town, um, tends to be a good base camp for and a jumping off point for a lot of exploration around Mount Hood. Governor camp is another place that a lot of people tend to stay, but there are a couple campgrounds that I would definitely recommend as well. My favorite on Mount Hood is called Camp Creek Campground, and it's a National Forest Service campground that's located near the rhododendron area. It's beautiful. It's a very quiet campground, very mossy forest. Um, there is a creek that goes through the middle and so it makes for a really relaxing kind of water sound throughout the campground. Um, but what makes it so special and memorable to me is just a couple of campsites if you get lucky. And thankfully during my last visit, we did. There are these historic stone fireplaces and chimneys that were built in nineteen thirty six that still remain. And so these I mean, these aren't just little small chimneys. We're talking, I don't know, well over thirty feet tall and beyond. And they're all built by stone. And so just photogenic, like, you know, it's one thing to sit out by a campground. It's another thing to sit out by these chimneys that, you know, are historical, just really beautiful. And so it was a great anchor feature with our campsite. Our spot that we had was quite spacious and very beautiful with the trees surrounding it. Um, we had more than enough room to live and play the RV parked there. So I would absolutely head back there again in a heartbeat.
Brooks, Host Do you know why the chimneys are there?
Kristy, Willa Wanders I know that they were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
Brooks, Host Okay.
Kristy, Willa Wanders I don't know exactly what the purpose was or if they were trying to strengthen ones. I mean, they do look like there's some connection to the natives that were in the area, but I don't know if Well, what exactly the involvement with the chimneys were. I just know they were built in nineteen thirty six.
Brooks, Host That is very, very cool.
Kristy, Willa Wanders They're very cool. And they're if you can snag one of the sites that has a chimney, it's definitely worth it.
Brooks, Host That is cool. Well, let's talk about some easy access adventures for hikers and maybe not hardcore hikers or hardcore hikers. What what do you what hikes you recommend?
Kristy, Willa Wanders So a lot of the campgrounds in the area are going to have access to hikes. One of the ones that Camp Creek has easy access to is the Still Creek Trail. Um, there's also a lot of really beautiful alpine lakes in the area that you can either hike around or hike to. Um, another pretty campground is Frog Lake campground. Um, it's very, very small and it would only accommodate very small RVs. Ours was a bit more of a tight fit. um, at twenty two feet. But, um, if you can get a spot that fits your RV at Frog Lake, um, it gives you great access to, um, walk over to the lake. It is called frog lake for a reason. There's lots of tadpoles and frogs in it, but it's.
Speaker 5 Just cool.
Kristy, Willa Wanders Beautiful, beautiful lake with a picturesque view of Mount Hood, um, in the background. It's perfect for paddle boarding, kayaking, fishing, relaxing, a couple of these campgrounds. There's also one at Lost Lake. Trillium Lake is another campground, and that lake has a beautiful view of Mount Hood, as well as kayaking and paddle boarding fishing. That's also a place where a lot of famous photography for Mount Hood happens. So if you're into photography like I am, and you want a good picturesque mountain with a lake view, Frog Lake and Trillium and Lost Lake are all great spots to check out. And all of those have hikes in the area as well.
Brooks, Host Well, let me ask you this. What is one playthrough experience around Mount Hood that you think deserves more attention?
Kristy, Willa Wanders Ooh. Um, can I say two?
Brooks, Host Sure, I'll let you say two, but not three.
Kristy, Willa Wanders Okay, fine, I'll limit it. I think both of these are ones that people are aware of, but they might be stops that people pass by. So specifically up at the mountain Timberline Lodge is definitely worth a visit even if you're not staying there. It's a national historic landmark that was built back in the nineteen thirties for any movie buffs. The exterior shots of the Lodge were also featured in the movie The Shining. So that's a fun thing. When you visit the Lodge, they have some information and some pictures about the movie as well, but there's amazing views of Mount Hood there. Um, it is a place where you can ski and snowboard as well, but they have great options for lunches or dinners or bars to stop for a drink or a happy hour. The building itself is really, really beautiful. So even if you just have a little bit of time and want to stop in for lunch and just wander around the lodge to check out the architecture, it's definitely worth it. The other one that I would say is not specifically on the mountain, but down in hood River, there is an area known as the fruit Loop. The fruit loop is a several hour long car ride loop that takes you past farms and orchards and vineyards. Other kind of small businesses that use the land with their to create their products. But it's a really fun outing. It's fun to throw the family in the car, get your girlfriends together. You can stop at some lavender farms and pick up some bundles of lavender or some soaps that smell good, and then go to an orchard and get some apple cider and then go to a farm. Um, they're really. The hood River area is known for having incredible pears and apples and peaches and some other fruit. So especially in the fall, the driving the fruit loop and just stopping at the different farms along the way is definitely worth the day trip to.
Brooks, Host So I'm curious to hear from you after exploring so many of these places, what is it about them that continues to bring you back?
Speaker 5 Ooh.
Kristy, Willa Wanders Um, I think what brings me back is the fact that I can get out into nature and not just view it from viewpoints. There are some beautiful parts of the country that you can see from roads or from scenic overlooks. But the great part of the Gorge and Mount Hood is that you can actually get out and enjoy the lakes and hike into the woods and, um, see the river up close, but also enjoy the towns and the incredible dining nearby. And so those are those are the things that keep me coming back, that I can always be active in these areas.
Brooks, Host Well, Christy, where can people follow along on your adventures and follow what you're doing and learn more about you? Tell us about that.
Kristy, Willa Wanders Yeah. So they can find me on Instagram, TikTok at Willow Wanders, W I l l a W a n d e r s. And for the next year, I'm definitely going to be staying within the Pacific Northwest. But in June of twenty twenty seven. Um, my friend Sarah and I are going to be co-hosting a women's group trip to the Galapagos Islands, and we're very excited about that. This is a trip that women can sign up for. Um, we're going to see some incredible wildlife along the way. So we would love to share that with you if.
Speaker 5 You go to.
Kristy, Willa Wanders Yeah. If you go to my Instagram, Willow wanders in the link in the bio or also on my TikTok, you can see the full itinerary, get the cost details. Um, send me any message with any questions that you have because we would love to have you join us. And there's still a few spots left with an early bird discount where you can save two hundred dollars. So if anybody is interested, go check it out.
Brooks, Host Well, Christy, thank you so much again for taking the time to come on the show here and talk to us about the Columbia River gorge, Mount Hood and these cool places in Oregon. It's been fantastic. Thank you.
Kristy, Willa Wanders You're welcome. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 6 All right, my friends, the conversation doesn't have to end here. If anything we talked about makes you crave more information. Head over to RV outwest dot com and take a moment to check out the show notes. We've got links to everything we mentioned so you can dive deeper and explore more. Before we go, I want to give you a sneak peek at next week's episode. Next week on RV Out West, we're diving into some of Washington State's most beautiful lakes that just might not be on your radar. From peaceful escapes to hidden recreation spots, we'll share a handful of destinations that deserve a spot on your next road trip. If you're looking for a new place to launch the kayak, cast a line or simply unwind by the water, you're not going to want to miss this. Thanks so much for listening to RV Out West. Join us again next week. Please like and subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you choose to get your podcasts so you never miss an episode. I sure would appreciate it if you left a rating or a review of this show. Special thanks to Scott Holmes Music for providing us the intro song. We Are One RV Out West can be found on Instagram and Facebook, where you can interact with us and follow along on our RV adventures around the Pacific Northwest. So get out there, explore and go see what's beyond the horizon.
