Cape Horn is the premier viewpoint on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge. And until a few years ago, when private parties including Friends of the Columbia Gorge and the Columbia Land Trust secured options to buy key properties atop the cape for public enjoyment, public access to the stunning panorama at the very top of the bluff was limited.

Now, a 5.5-mile loop hike around the cape skirts several of those stunning views. But the trail is hard to follow in places and dangerous in others, with steep dropoffs. And completing the loop requires walking 1.3 miles on a not-so-scenic paved road.

The Forest Service is offering four alternatives for rebuilding the trail, with public comments accepted until Nov. 30.

In 2006, Friends used $1.5 million of a $4.3 million bequest from the family of prominent Oregon lumberman John Yeon to buy the 4-acre Cleveland property atop the cape. The property had once been slated for a 16-house subdivision called Rim View Estates.

In 2008, Friends dismantled an existing house on the property, tore up the asphalt, uprooted nonnative plants and sold the property to the Forest Service for $570,000. Friends made up the million-dollar difference with a fundraising campaign.

Today, a few remnants of the house site are visible from the trail.

That 4-acre parcel is a key piece of the Forest Service’s Cape Horn Recreation Plan as the agency considers the alternatives for a 5.5-mile trail to replace the unofficial trail created by hiking enthusiasts.

The Forest Service trail would follow parts of the existing route as it climbs from a park-and-ride lot at state Highway 14 to the top of Cape Horn, then drop to spectacular bluffs below the highway. A scenic overlook and handicapped-accessible trail are envisioned for the Cleveland property.

That overlook “might rival the views seen from Crown Point on the Oregon side of the Columbia,” the agency notes in its environmental assessment.

“Without the land acquisition up on top, this process would not be happening,” said Kevin Gorman, executive director of Friends of the Gorge. “It opened the process to make this a public trail.”

Yes and no, said Greg Cox, the Forest Service deputy manager for the scenic area.

“The Cleveland property up at the top is gorgeous. It is spectacular. It’s icing on the cake,” Cox said. “Could we have had a trail without it? Yes. The most heavily used part is the part below Highway 14. That’s where we have the environmental issues and safety issues.”

Several years ago, a hiker fell to her death from a bluff below the highway. Another safety hazard is crossing the highway.

Among the Forest Service’s proposals are building pedestrian underpasses under the highway. Also suggested is making the trail out-and-back to avoid a peregrine falcon nest.

The Friends group has a special interest in the outcome of the process. The organization’s founder and benefactor, the late Nancy Russell, was instrumental in winning passage of the 1986 act that established the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area and protected the entire Cape Horn area from further development.

Russell acquired an option to purchase the 32-acre Collins property atop the cape from its owners for $2 million. Russell, who died in September 2008, left that option to Friends in her will.

“We’ve committed that we are going to pay for creating an overlook that would provide interpretation about the work that Nancy Russell did to protect the area,” Gorman said.

Gorman said Friends hopes to acquire the Collins property eventually — it’s still occupied by its owners — and sell it to the Forest Service for a public park and a small parking lot to accommodate the driving public.

If You Go:

To hike the trail now, drive to the park-and-ride on Highway 14 at Salmon Falls Road, 20 miles east of Vancouver. Because of the dropoffs, it's not a good place for children or unleashed dogs.