1859 March | April 2016

AROUND OREGON
road reconsidered
Cascadia
Cascadia
Cave
20
1
Sweet Home
Straw Palace
20
Lebanon
Albany
Corvallis
20
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT Chitwood Bridge. Earth tones in
Cascadia. Straw Palace in Lebanon.
20
Burnt Woods
2
Burnt Woods
Store
here, where the river by their name and the
Willamette River meet. The European settlers
came in the 1840s. Albany solidified its
place as a trading post with the arrival of
the railroad and remains a busy commercial
center for farmers, growers and ranchers.
Highway 20 follows the Willamette River
here and into Corvallis. This town has long
prospered from Oregon State University, a
land grant college.
To the west, the highway changes character,
but the story remains natural resources:
timber, wood products, fishing and camping.
The highway cuts near the Siuslaw
National Forest, across two Coast Range
passes and along Marys River and Little Elk
Creek. There are a few campgrounds along
the highway, and even more as you head inland
uphill and into the trees.
“Life along the highway is like a step back
in time,” observed Randy Quetschke, owner
of the nearby historic Burnt Woods Store.
The Burnt Woods Store itself dates back to
the 1920s.
History along Highway 20 in the Coast
Range points to some bleak times, though.
The Chitwood Bridge is a standing memorial
to the vibrant logging industry that once
was an economic engine. Before the demise
of the old-growth logging industry, Chitwood
had a town store, post office, homes,
the dance hall and more. Little, beyond the
bridge, is left.
The railroad tracks that run parallel to the
highway through the Coast Range carries
products along this route that terminates in
Toledo, on the shore of upper Yaquina Bay.
Like many of the towns along this stretch
of Highway 20, this was and remains tied to
natural resources.
Newport is the westernmost point on
Highway 20. Any farther and you’ll need a
dory or a stand-up paddleboard for transportation.
As the largest port on the central
coast, Newport has a special character.
Just ask the folks at Rogue Ales and Spirits,
who founded their craft brewery here to
match the blue collar nature of the bayfront.
Newport, with its diversity of seafarers,
artisans and scientists is a perfect
location for the upstart craft brewery. “We
Oregonians are by definition rogue,” said
Rogue Ales president Brett Joyce. At its facility,
there are more than forty varieties of
brews from which to choose as you gaze
out over Yaquina Bay.
Roadside Must-do
1
2
3
Take a hike in verdent Cascadia State
Park. Soda Creek Falls is a quick onemile
hike in.
The Burnt Woods Store dates back to
the 1920s.
Newport is the westernmost end of
Highway 20 and a popular bayfront
tourist destination.
Road Stats
3,365
8,000
Chitwood
Covered Bridge
3
Chitwood
Newport
Rogue Ales
& Spirits
Miles is the full
length of US20, the
longest road in the
United States.
The approximate
number of years
ago the Molalla and
Santiam Kalapuya
started traveling
through Cascadia.
52 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE MARCH | APRIL 2016
MORE ONLINE For more scenes along Highway 20, visit 1859magazine.com/roadrecon