Columbia Gorge Regional Airport (DLS) serves The Dalles, a historic town on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge, and it is worth knowing upfront that this is a small regional field with limited or no standing car rental desks rather than a full commercial terminal - travelers should not expect the same walk-up counter experience as a major airport. Many visitors instead arrange a rental car through a local agency in The Dalles itself, by advance reservation, or fly into Portland International Airport and drive east into the Gorge instead.
Portland International Airport, roughly eighty miles west, offers the widest range of international and local rental companies and vehicle categories, with the drive out to The Dalles taking around an hour and a half along Interstate 84, a scenic route that follows the Columbia River through the Gorge's dramatic cliffs and waterfalls. This makes Portland a common choice for visitors who want a guaranteed, full-service rental pickup before heading into the Gorge.
Once you have a car, the Columbia River Gorge offers some of the Pacific Northwest's most striking scenery, and The Dalles sits near the drier, windier eastern end of the Gorge, a favorite for windsurfing and kiteboarding around nearby Hood River, roughly twenty minutes west. The historic Columbia River Highway, with its old stone bridges and waterfall overlooks, runs closer to Portland and makes a worthwhile detour for those driving the full length of the Gorge.
Driving is on the right throughout the United States, and Interstate 84 through the Gorge is well maintained and heavily used, though strong winds are common near The Dalles and Hood River and can affect high-profile vehicles. Fuel stations are frequent along the interstate corridor, and the drier climate east of the Cascades means less rain but more wind than the Portland side, both worth factoring into any Gorge road trip along this scenic stretch of Oregon.