In August my wife and I did a 2 week long trip with our travel trailer to the Pacific Northwest. On the second day of the trip we were north bound on US 97 north of Bend, Oregon when we decided to pull into a highway rest stop. We soon discovered that we had entered a historically important site.
We discovered that US 97 and the parallel railroad track were about to cross a rather deep gorge and the Crooked River. This large rest stop is known as the Peter Skene Odgen State Scenic Viewpoint. I was not familiar with this river so had to stroll around the site and check things out.
The arched rail bridge was originally built for the Oregon Trunk Railroad around 1911 and apparently still in use today by the BNSF although we did not see a train pass while we were there.
The site also includes the old 2 lane US 97 bridge which was built in 1926. It is in the foreground in this photo and it's wider replacement built in the 1990's is in the background.
While the old highway bridge is not open to vehicle traffic, it is open to pedestrians and connected to the park. Visitors can walk out to get a different view of the gorge.
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