Cabbage Hill (Deadman Pass)

Cabbage Hill is the steep western descent on I-84 where the freeway drops off the Blue Mountains in eastern Oregon. The road climbs and falls between Pendleton at the northwest base and La Grande to the southeast. ODOT's trucker brochure puts the downgrade about 35 miles west of La Grande. The official name is Emigrant Hill, drivers call it Cabbage Hill, and the wider area carries the name Deadman Pass.

Westbound is the side that gets respect. ODOT describes a seven-mile downgrade where you lose about 2,000 feet of elevation in six miles and twist through a double hairpin turn at a 6-percent downgrade. The signed grade runs from Milepost 227 down to Milepost 217. Going east, I-84 climbs roughly 3,000 feet up a series of switchbacks with a maximum grade of 5 to 6 percent, per the sourced Wikipedia article on Interstate 84 in Oregon. The lanes are split by a wide median for about eight miles through the steep section.

Truckers care because the combination is hard to manage: a sustained 6-percent grade, two hairpins, and weather that turns fast. ODOT calls it some of the most changeable and severe weather in the Northwest, with fog, snow, and black ice common from October through April. The hill has a long crash record, and ODOT's own numbers show out-of-state carriers and brake problems show up again and again. It is widely regarded as one of the most hazardous truck descents in the Pacific Northwest.

• Westbound downgrade runs Milepost 227 to Milepost 217, signed as a seven-mile, 6-percent grade (ODOT brochure)
• You drop about 2,000 feet in six miles and pass through a double hairpin turn (ODOT brochure)
• Eastbound, I-84 climbs roughly 3,000 feet on switchbacks at a max grade of 5 to 6 percent (Wikipedia, Interstate 84 in Oregon)
• Two runaway truck escape ramps sit at Milepost 221.97 and Milepost 220.11 (ODOT brochure)
• On average 78 percent of Cabbage Hill crashes involve out-of-state motor carriers (ODOT brochure)
• On average 59 percent of brake problems contribute to accidents on the hill (ODOT brochure)
• Fog, snow, and black ice are common between October and April (ODOT brochure)

There is no fixed chain-control calendar published for this hill. Oregon runs sign-activated restrictions, not a set season. ODOT law requires you carry and use tire chains when conditions warrant or signs are posted, and the brochure flags fog, snow, and black ice as common from October through April. That October-to-April window is the practical chain season here, but the trigger is the sign and the weather, not a date. When ODOT activates the restriction, chains or traction tires are required where signs direct. Traction tires can stand in for chains only on vehicles rated 10,000 lb GVW or less that are not towing; disobeying the signs is a Class C traffic infraction. The chain-up area is at Milepost 217, near the bottom toward Pendleton. The restriction comes off when conditions clear and ODOT pulls the signs. Check ODOT TripCheck for the live status before you run it.

The name Deadman Pass goes back to the 1870s, the Bannock War era, and the killings of travelers and teamsters during conflict with the Bannock and Paiute. Sources disagree on the exact year, with one pointing to 1876 and broader accounts tying it to the 1878 Bannock War, so the safe read is the late 1870s. The pass has kept the name through a long run of modern crashes on the same grade.

The worst recent one came on December 30, 2012, when a tour bus carrying about 40 passengers from Las Vegas toward British Columbia broke through a guardrail on icy I-84 about 15 miles east of Pendleton near Deadman Pass, around 10:30 a.m. Nine people died and more than 26 were hospitalized, and it is often cited as the deadliest crash in the area. In February 2014, heavy fog dropped visibility to near zero and set off a string of wrecks, including a Monday-night pileup of about 16 vehicles, 9 of them semis, between Meacham and Cabbage Hill. ODOT closed the freeway on the Tuesday and Wednesday nights when visibility fell below 100 feet. Then on February 21, 2022, a snow-and-ice chain reaction in the early afternoon involved as many as 98 vehicles per Oregon State Police, closing I-84 between Pendleton and La Grande until the next day.