Shepperd's Dell

Shepperd's Dell is a small canyon in the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon, located at coord|45.54833|N|122.195|Wwhich is less than one-third mile (500 m) southeast of Rooster Rock State Park.

The Historic Columbia River Highway runs over the dell on a bridge that was the answer to one of the engineering challenges of the highway's construction. The dell was carved by a creek that includes two fairly substantial tumbling waterfalls. Due to the topography of the area, it is difficult to photograph the falls. As such, the bridge is what is normally pictured, and thus is arguably better known than the dell itself.

The spelling of the dell's name tends to vary depending on the source. The official Oregon State Park site [http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_168.php] spells it with the apostrophe, however the GNIS entry Gnis2|1851737 omits the apostrophe.

External links

* [http://www.columbiariverhighway.com/history/HABS_HAER/shepperds_dell_bridge.htm Historic American Engineering Record report on Shepperd's Dell Bridge]
* [http://www.columbiariverhighway.com/coppermine/thumbnails.php?cat=2&album=search&search=shepperds_dell Vintage Postcards of Shepperd's Dell and Shepperd's Dell Bridge]
* [http://www.columbiariverhighway.com Historic Columbia River Highway]