Excavation & Site Prep in Cascade Locks, Oregon: 2026 Guide

Excavation and Site Prep in Cascade Locks, Oregon

Cascade Locks sits on the Oregon bank of the Columbia River Gorge, in the shadow of the Bridge of the Gods, where the river cuts a deep channel between Washington and Oregon. It is one of the wettest and windiest spots in the state. The Gorge funnels weather, and the town catches heavy rain, strong gusts, and the runoff that pours off the steep walls above it. Any excavation here has to plan for water first. Site prep that does not move water away from structures fails fast in the Gorge.

Cojo Excavation & Asphalt serves Cascade Locks and the surrounding Hood River County Gorge from our Willamette Valley base. This guide explains what site prep involves in this corner of the Gorge and what the rain, wind, and steep terrain mean for your project.

What Excavation and Site Prep Covers

Excavation is the dirt work that comes before construction. In Cascade Locks the core tasks are:

• Site grading — Cutting and filling to build a level pad for a home, shop, or tourism-related building, and shaping the surrounding ground so the Gorge's heavy rain drains away from structures.
• Drainage — The most important task here. Swales, French drains, culverts, and catch basins that handle the volume of water the Gorge throws at a property.
• Utility trenching — Digging lines for water, sewer or septic, power, and gas, often on tight or sloped lots near the river.
• Land clearing — Removing brush, trees, rock, and old structures to open buildable ground.

For statewide context on pricing, see our excavation cost in Oregon guide and our site grading cost in Oregon breakdown.

The Gorge: What Makes Cascade Locks Different

Water, and a Lot of It

Cascade Locks gets a great deal of rain, and the Gorge concentrates runoff. Water sheeting off the steep walls above town has to go somewhere, and on a poorly graded site it goes straight at foundations, crawlspaces, and driveways. Drainage is not an add-on in Cascade Locks, it is the heart of the job. We design grading and drainage together so that every storm pushes water away from where it can do damage. Sites that skip this get standing water, saturated bases, and erosion within the first wet season.

Wind

The Gorge is famous for wind, and it shapes site work in practical ways. Erosion control on bare graded ground is harder when the wind is moving soil and drying out the surface unevenly. Crews plan for it, stabilizing disturbed ground promptly so a windy stretch does not blow a site apart.

Steep Terrain and Tight Lots

Cascade Locks is wedged between the river and the rising Gorge wall, so flat ground is limited. Many lots are sloped, narrow, or hard for equipment to reach. Building a level pad often means a cut into the hillside with a retaining structure to hold it, and that adds engineering and cost. Access matters too. A site the machines can barely reach takes longer and costs more than an open lot near the road.

Saturated, Variable Soils

Constant moisture means soils stay wet, and wet ground compacts and drains differently than the dry soils east of the Cascades. Some Gorge sites carry rock close to the surface, others have deep, soft, saturated soil that needs extra base work to support a structure. Knowing which you have drives the whole approach.

Permits, Soil, and 811 in Hood River County

Hood River County governs grading and excavation outside the small Cascade Locks city limits, and the Gorge adds a layer most Oregon towns do not have. Cascade Locks falls within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, and development inside the Scenic Area can require additional review focused on protecting views and natural resources. That can affect what you can build, where, and how the ground gets disturbed.

Plan for:

• Erosion and grading permits — Required once you disturb a set area or move a fill threshold, and the steep, wet Gorge ground tends to bring these into play quickly.
• Scenic Area review — Work within the National Scenic Area may need its own approval beyond a standard county permit.
• Septic and stormwater — Drainage and septic siting are driven by soil and setbacks, and stormwater management is a real concern given the rainfall.
• 811 locates — Oregon law requires calling 811 before digging so existing utilities get marked. It is free and mandatory, and we confirm locates before any digging starts.

A contractor who understands the Gorge's permitting will sequence the work so a Scenic Area or erosion issue does not stall the project.

What Affects the Cost of a Cascade Locks Excavation Job

Site work pricing here turns on conditions more than catalog rates. Industry baseline ranges exist, but a steep, wet Gorge lot can land well outside them. The biggest cost drivers:

• Drainage complexity — The defining factor in Cascade Locks. Simple grading is cheap; the engineered drainage a Gorge site usually needs costs more.
• Slope and retaining — A flat lot is straightforward. A pad cut into the hillside with a retaining wall costs more in time, material, and engineering.
• Access — Tight, narrow lots wedged between river and wall slow the work down.
• Soil condition — Saturated soft ground or near-surface rock both add cost in different ways.
• Permitting — Scenic Area and erosion requirements add time and planning.

We do not quote firm numbers without walking the site, because in the Gorge the water and the slope decide the real scope. Owners in the wider area can also read our Hood River asphalt and excavation overview for the nearest hub market.

Why Hire a Contractor Who Knows the Gorge

Site prep in Cascade Locks rewards crews who lead with drainage and respect the terrain. Cojo brings the equipment and the experience to cut pads into Gorge slopes, build the drainage that this rainfall demands, and work within the Scenic Area's requirements. We plan the water before we move the dirt, because in Cascade Locks that is what keeps a finished site standing.

If you are planning a home pad, a shop, a driveway, or any project that starts with site work in the Gorge, we can scope it with the rain and the slope in mind from the start.