Planning a road trip to Columbia River Gorge and looking for the best waterfalls in the area?
Columbia River Gorge is an 80-mile long spectacular river canyon on the borders of Washington and Oregon which is known for beautiful cliffs and insane amount of stunning waterfalls. The two of us road tripped Oregon alongside with Washington’s Olympic NP this April and ended up spending 4 days in this area. We happened to visit at the beginning of wildflower season and the combination of waterfalls and flowers was simply magical.
While there is lots to explore from both sides of the borders, we decided to stick to the Oregon side of Columbia River Gorge and camp at Ainsworth State Park. It was a perfect base as it was close to all waterfalls and other stops we wanted to do in the area. To give you an idea, the Oregon side alone boasts around 90 waterfalls and here are some of the best ones you shouldn’t miss!
6 AMAZING COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE WATERFALLS
Multnomah Falls
Multnomah Falls is simply a must see when visiting Columbia River Gorge as this is Oregon’s tallest waterfall located right next to the highway!
The lower viewpoint is just steps away from the parking lot, but if you have time, we highly recommend doing the whole Multnomah Falls Trail that takes you to the top of the waterfall and offers amazing views of the gorge.
Note that this is the most visited natural recreation site in the Pacific Northwest, so $2 Timed Use Permits are required from May 24th through September 2nd, 2024.
Latourell Falls
Latourell Falls is another one from easily accessible waterfalls in Columbia River Gorge and it was probably our favourite since it was a lot quieter than Multnomah Falls. You’ll likely have the opportunity to feel the waterfall spray as you cross the creek’s footbridge which is just a quick 5 minute walk from the parking lot.
Sadly, the trail to Upper Latourell Falls was closed during our visit, but it would make for a great stop in case you’d like to make your walk longer.
Bridal Veil Falls
The trail leading to Bridal Veil Falls is (once again) short and sweet, so you can easily combine it with other stops in the area. Reserve 15 minutes for the whole loop.
Wahkeena Falls
Wahkeena Falls isn’t as huge as other waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge, but it has its own magic.
To reach the falls, you’ll need to take a 15 minute uphill walk through the paved section of Wahkeena Trail which then continues to other viewpoints in the area and even connects to the Multnomah Falls through a loop.
Horsetail Falls
We originally didn’t even plan visiting Horsetail Falls, but its location right along the Columbia Gorge Scenic Highway makes this waterfall basically impossible to miss. Sadly, we didn’t take any photo of it, but if you can spare 5 minutes, it makes for a great pit stop!
Tunnel Falls
As you probably know by now, Columbia River Gorge is full of easily accessible waterfalls, but we personally like to combine it with places that require a bit of an effort to reach, so we knew we had to check out Tunnel Falls!
Tunnel Falls is a moderate 12 mile round trip trail along the Eagle Creek that takes you to a stunning waterfall that has a tunnel behind it! How cool is that? To say we loved this hike is an understatement! You just gotta go and see it for yourself, but note that there are quite a few narrow areas that have ropes to hold onto, so it’s not for everyone.
A Northwest Forest Pass is required to park your car and you can pay $5 in cash at the trailhead.
MORE PLACES TO SEE IN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE
As if the waterfalls weren’t enough, there is more to see in Columbia River Gorge. The whole are offers plenty of hiking trails as well as historic sites, and since we had 4 full days in the area, these are few more spots we decided to visit.
Vista House at Crown Point
Vista House is a museum and beautiful scenic point on the Historic Columbia River Highway. Apparently, the building itself is architecturally significant, but we were honestly more impressed by its location on top of the cliff and amazing views of the gorge below. We thought this would be such a great spot to watch the sunset!
Rowena Crest Viewpoint
Rowena Crest Viewpoint is a scenic overlook that offers multiple trails and magnificent views of the Columbia River Gorge. And if you also happen to visit during the spring – it’s a great place to see the wildflowers!
We drove here to catch the sunset from Rowena Plateau Trail and the arrowleaf was in full bloom, so it couldn’t be more beautiful.
Memaloose Hills
The last stop on our epic Oregon road trip was the Memaloose Hills trail which is a quick 3 miles hike with beautiful views of Columbia River Gorge and Mt. Hood.
We didn’t originally have this place on our itinerary, but as we got to the Gorge area and found out that the wildflowers were blooming, we decided to squeeze it in. It did not disappoint as the fully bloomed arrowleaf was literally everywhere around us! But frankly we don’t think it would be that interesting outside of wildflower season.
COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE WATERFALLS: FINAL THOUGHTS
The beauty of Columbia River Gorge and its waterfalls is hard to beat, you just have to go and see it for yourself! We hope this blog post helps with your planning and in case you have more questions – make sure to drop them in the comments below.
Happy travels!
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