Criterion is an historic

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Wasco County Wasco County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,213. Its county seat is The Dalles. The county is named for a local tribe of Native Americans, the Wasco, a Chinook tribe w ...

, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. It lies along U.S. Route 197 between Maupin and

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. Nearby is Criterion Summit, which at about above sea level is the highest point along the highway between

The Dalles The Dalles is the largest city of Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The population was 16,010 at the 2020 census, and it is the largest city on the Oregon side of the Columbia River between the Portland Metropolitan Area, and Hermiston ...

to the north and Redmond to the south. In the late 19th century, the route over the summit was a wagon road linking The Dalles to Lakeview and California. A post office was established there in 1913. The name comes from the dictionary word meaning a "standard by which to judge quality". The founder who proposed the name linked it to the idea of a model community. Although other local residents preferred the name ''Three Notches'', for a large, notched juniper tree growing nearby, the

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

rejected the two-word proposal in favor of the single word, ''Criterion''. The post office closed in 1926. The Criterion Ranch Trail is an hiking route between Route 197 at Criterion and the

Deschutes River Deschutes River may refer to: *Deschutes River (Oregon) The Deschutes River in central Oregon is a major tributary of the Columbia River. The river provides much of the drainage on the eastern side of the Cascade Range in Oregon, gathering many ...

to the west. It follows power lines and an old ranch trail used recently as a firebreak during a

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

in 2011. The trail connects with other trails in the Criterion Tract, a recreational area administered by the

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...

. It has frontage along a stretch of the highway and extends to the river.

References

{{Authority control Unincorporated communities in Wasco County, Oregon Unincorporated communities in Oregon