Multnomah Falls, Oregon

When I was visiting my friends in Portland, Oregon, they showed me this beautiful place- Multnomah Falls. This waterfall is located in the state of Oregon, 45 minute drive outside of Portland.  This is the tallest waterfall in Oregon and the second tallest waterfall in the United States. The height of the waterfall is 620 feet (189m).  Its water drops in two major steps and splits into falls “upper” -542 feet (165m) and “lower” 69 feet (21m), with a gradual 9 foot (3m) drop between them.

I was in Portland around Christmas season and the weather was not the best there during that time. As I mentioned, it’s just 45 minute drive to get to waterfall but on our way there we ran into all kind of weather phenomenon: rain, fog and snow. It was a horrible driving experience as you can see on this picture.

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We took historical highway I-84 along Columbia River which serves as a border between two states: Oregon and Washington. Then we turned to Historical Crown Point Highway. This highway goes through the forest and on its way you can see a few more waterfalls. Supposedly it is a very scenic highway but the weather didn’t give me a chance to see anything until we got to the waterfall by serpentine road. 

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On the way we stopped at Vista House. From its surrounding vantage point and 733 feet above the river it should offer a spectacular view on Columbia River and overlooking I-84 highway. But the only thing I could see was a white wall of fog with snow.  

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After Vista House we made a stop at Latourell Falls. The weather changed a little bit as we got here, it was not foggy, but it drizzled with a snow. I liked the bridge the most at this stop.

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It was so quiet in the forest, no people around. I could hear birds singing and could smell moss in the air. The feeling was like we were alone on the whole planet. And at the same time all of that reminded me of the movie “Wrong Turn”.

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Then we followed short trail to the waterfall. It was impressively tall. You can compare its size with the size of the small bridge in the bottom of it. I had to step away pretty far to get it in the camera.  

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And finally we got to Multnomah Falls. There is no way to get the whole waterfall in the picture, unless you have wide angle lens (which I didn’t have) or walk far away across a highway.

This is me on Benson FootBridge, warming up with cup of hot chocolate.

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You can get there following a trail. This bridge allows visitors to cross 105 feet above the lowest cascade. The Footbridge was built in 1914 and named Simon Benson, who had the bridge built.

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Following the steep trail for about a mile, there is a vista point on top of the upper fall which gives you a bird view of both drops and Columbia River. As soon as we started going up along that trail we got to fairytale made by nature.

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The weather had changed again. If it was raining on the bottom it started snowing here.

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Overlook form Vista Point on 542 feet water drop.

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This is how Vista Point looks like. The platform is hanging in the air and tons of water run under knees of it. Platform gives you overlook on mountain, water drop, Columbia river and Multnomah Lodge. 

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This is a view on Multnomah Lodge and its parking. Somewhere there…

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The hiking trail itself wasn’t that bad as it was covered with asphalt. However, it was slippery and very wet as the wind blew water drops from the waterfall. On the trail I met some people wearing plastic rain covers, they must have read about this place before and came prepared. As I was wearing regular coat, I got completely wet. 

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The reward after all of that was to get back to Lodge. There is a nice restaurant there where we had dinner. First thing I ordered was hot tea. Then I went to a fireplace, threw few pieces of wood in the fire, and got warm, sipping hot tea, and thought that hiking to waterfall was an amazing and unforgettable experience. 

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Also, there is a gift shop in the Lodge, where you can get all kinds of souvenirs.

Multnomah Falls is a great place to visit all year around and if I will be in Portland again I will definitely come back here. 

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