Historic Hood River
Balancing Rock
10-6-2020
Notes
This fits in the category of “you learn something new every day.” I had never heard of the “Balancing Rock” (aka Coalca’s Pillar) before seeing this postcard from Gladys Reavis’ collection. It turns out it is still “ballancing” above the Willamette River, though it is mostly hidden my foliage and there is no access. You can read about it in the Oregon Encyclopedia.
kmb
Let me guess – this postcard had been mailed and someone wanted to keep the stamp so they tore it off?
L.E.
I used to often travel 99E to visit relatives in Canby, but don’t ever remember seeing this rock. I know Canby is a broad plain of farm land, but driving back to Oregon City, you drive right along rock bluffs.
JEC
I think this is in the area where Staff Jennings used to have a boat dealership. There was a station sign at the end of a railroad siding that identified that location as "Coalca".
nels
How many people in thIs picture?
Kenn
Pillar remains just above and south of the wood carving place at Coalca that was the longtime Piersons tavern. It was an early landmark for boat and train passengers that they were nearing Oregon City falls. There was a trail heavy with poison oak from the tavern to the pillar.
Andy
Just trekked up to the pillar today: May 30, 2020. We parked on a pullout beside hwy 99 just West of the bluffs the pillar is on. We had to bushwhack up to the top of the bluff and fight the vine maples, loose rocks, and very, very abundant poison oak. Did I mention that there is a lot of poison oak? There is no trail from the side we went up, so it’s slow going, but it is totally doable. The old pictures of the pillar that you see on the internet are from a bygone era when the area was cleared and logged. It’s not as striking when the brush and foliage is more overgrown as it is now; however, it’s really a cool formation. I can’t believe it hasn’t fallen down in the last 100 years.
Sevy
Lived in Canby for a while … late 70s, early 80s. I recall legend of Balance Rock as it was relayed to me. At that time, if you were driving Hwy 99 from Canby to Oregon City you could look up at a certain point and actually see "˜balance rock’. Indian legend was that the rock would fall when the last descendant of the tribe responsible for placement of the rock dies.