Multnomah Falls and Columbia River Gorge
Rating: 8/10
Cost: Free
Location: 35 miles from downtown Portland
Parking: Limited parking near the falls. Read below for details
Multnomah Falls happens to be the most visited tourist attraction in Pacific Northwest. Given I hadn’t been there in previous 6 visits, this was the time. The falls can be a good visit but you’ve to know a little bit of information to make it enjoyable else it can end up in frustration, and this is why I rate it 8 because of the hassles and uncertainty of seeing falls. As someone who is not used to big hikes, I would rate the Columbia River Gorge Scenic Falls to offer good opportunities to get great views with small hikes.
Transit / Parking
I headed out late after checking out around noon and lunch. Heading towards the falls signs on highway asked us to take the next exit (25) to Rooster Rock State Park and take a shuttle to the Falls as the main lot at exit 31 was full. We complied, parked there ($5) and waited for the next shuttle. It’s operated by Columbia Gorge Express with a frequency of about 20–30 minutes with the last bus at 4:05 pm in that direction. Frustratingly the first bus we saw we missed just walking from our car to the bus. So make sure to take the closest spot available to the bus stop. To add to the frustration when we arrived at the falls, there were at least 3–4 available parking spots.
Multnomah
Columbia River Gorge had a massive fire and unfortunately it continues to close off any trails whatsoever next to Multnomah Falls. I learnt it on the site. They told us it won’t reopen till later this summer or maybe next year. The Multnomah Falls we could see it from a distance, watching the bridge with the backdrop of the very tall falls. It does look very nice, but there was disappointment of not getting any closer due to the fire. Thankfully we’re handed a map with information on nearby falls which we could visit but also have limited parking. Frustratingly we weren’t accommodated in the first bus back because it was full. It was almost 4:30 pm by the time we got to our car. We decided to head towards the closest falls- Bridal Veil Falls.
Other Falls
Heading there requires going back to highway and exiting at 28 which leads to many falls starting with Bridal Veil. The parking is again extremely limited here, but given we were late in the day we found a car vacating their spot after circling for a while. From here, it was 2/3rd mile round-trip for the hike to the actual falls. For a veteran hiker, this would be a child’s play. I, on the other hand, tripped and was scared. In the end, it took about 15 minutes each side. It was slightly steep at parts but not very hard. Regardless I wouldn’t recommend people with health conditions to try it out (although Multnomah is perfectly fine). At the end of it you face the falls and if you’re adventurous, climb on large rock facing the falls to get photos. It’s called Bridal Veil because rather than being one contiguous streak, it gets divided into 2–3 parts looking like a veil. The backdrop of moss and ferns adds to the ambience, there’s creek at the bottom with rocks on which you can trek and it made up for Multnomah’s closure as this was beautiful.
I’d decided to call it a day after doing that hike but my urge to explore a little bit more got the better of me as I decided to stop by another fall, the Latourell Falls. It’s 2 miles further from Bridal Veils on the same road, which gets very narrow at times. Little did I know this would my favorite for the day. The map at the site spoke of “Upper Trail” at 1.5 miles, “Lower Trail” at 0.8 miles so naturally I went for the latter (which required uphill climb). Luckily there was an overlook within 2–3 minutes from where we could view the falls and people at the base. This tempted us but we’re too tired. Luckily another traveler told us the base of the falls was a mere 5-minute walk from the car park. It was so worth it. It’s one thing to view a fall, another to stand next to it with water splashing from the rocks, being surrounded in the greenery and feel the power of falls. I’ve definitely done a few very good falls in India and maybe some of them were better but amongst the ones I’ve done in US this was definitely the best experience.
Here is a video of Bridal Veil Falls.
