Sternwheeler Days

Since 1975, artisans, crafters, and vendors from the Northwest and beyond have gathered for this festival to showcase their wares.

This festival was first known as Portage Days. The name was later changed to Sternwheeler Days to announce the Sternwheeler “Columbia Gorge.” The Columbia Gorge Lions combined the two great events. The Sternwheeler sightseeing cruises are a wonderful way to enjoy a river view of the Marine Park, the Bridge of the Gods and the Sailing Regatta which are all a part of the history of the festival.

For the kids and the young at heart, there will be games, bingo, a dunk tank, real live mountain men with demonstrations and much more old fashioned fun.

VISIT THE CASCADE LOCKS MUSEUM AND THE OREGON PONY

One of the finest authentically sited historical small museums in the state. The building sits near the old navigation locks on the site of an old Indian camp visited by Captain Lewis in 1806 on his return trip to the east. The building itself was built around the turn of the century- one of the three houses built by the U.S. Engineers for the use of the lock tenders. Many treasures await the history seeking individual including a true scale model of a fishing wheel, the kind common on the Columbia for many years until they were outlawed in 1927. In front of the museum stands the Oregon Pony, first locomotive built on the Pacific Coast, and first used west of the Missouri. It was in use on a five mile stretch of portage between the upper Cascade and Bonneville.