While the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail, popularly known as the Twin Tunnels trail, has been open since early October, 2024 after the Microwave Tower Fire, there are areas of land along the trail that are closed until further notice. See the map below for where those areas are.
Why is that land still closed?
The chief challenge that delayed re-opening the trail, after the wildfire itself was suppressed, was that the fire had burned through an old waste disposal site (including automobiles), resulting in a hot spot that was putting out toxic smoke and gases. By the time firefighters and other experts had suppressed the hot spot and the trail was re-opened, air quality test results came back below detection levels – but the site remains a hazard.
In addition, recently burned land poses a number of risks, including unstable ground and loose rocks, logs, and other debris. So, in short, the land is closed for our safety.
You can read the entire trail re-opening announcement for more detail.
