Multnomah Falls

Multnomah Falls is easily the Columbia River Gorge's most famous waterfall and could very well be

It towers over the adjacent viewing deck and historic lodge (built in 1925). Its cumulative height of 620ft is comprised of 541ft for the upper falls and 79ft for the lower falls. With these dimensions, people often quote that is the tallest major waterfall in Oregon (wonder what the tallest is?), the 2nd tallest year-round waterfall in the US, and the 4th tallest year-round waterfall in North America. We'll leave it up to debate whether these claims are accurate because we're also skeptical. But what makes this waterfall so iconic is the Benson Bridge - a concrete arched bridge spanning the top of the lower waterfall.

Once you've managed to find parking in the very busy car park right in front of both the lodge and the falls, the viewing area is up the slightly inclined walkway right behind the lodge. Most people consider themselves satisfied with the Multnomah Falls experience from here, but there's more.

It's an easy 0.2-mile walk (0.4 miles round trip) from the viewing area behind the lodge towards the concrete bridge spanning the lower waterfall. It's a 1-mile walk (2 miles round trip) to get to the top of the falls. The trail continues beyond this falls to a few other ones and ultimately hooks up with Larch Mountain. We only made it to the Benson Bridge on our trips so we can't comment further about what's beyond.

Julie and I have been to the falls twice so far. The first time was in the midst of some pretty nasty late Winter storms in late March/early April and the width of the falls was quite noticeable. The viewing area at the base was sprayed with mist so it wasn't easy to take photos from there without waterspots getting on the lens.

We returned in August of that same year and the falls was more slender but just as beautiful (if not more). It seemed to have more grace and character and we could easily envision even more photo opportunities if we were to come in Autumn to try to capture the falls with Autumn colors.

We're not sure whether the lodge allows overnight guests, but they do have a gift shop and pretty decent (albeit a little pricey) restaurant. There's also a visitor center where you can see pretty cool models of the Gorge geology, waterfall comparisons, lots of historical and scientific tidbits, and more. So certainly, there are many ways to linger here and soak in the experience.

Coming from Portland, you head east on I-84 for roughly 20-30 minutes before you have a choice of where to get off. We usually take the Bridal Veil Exit (exit 28) where you can then turn left to continue east on Historic Columbia River Highway to the large car park that sits right in front of both the falls and the historic lodge (you'll be passing by Wahkeena Falls en route).

However, the forest service says that you can also take exit 31, which gets to a car park sandwiched between both directions of the I-84. I don't recall seeing this when we head east, but then again, we probably never paid attention to this detail. Finally, if you miss both exits 28 and 31, you can still get off at exit 35 for Ainsworth State Park, then drive back west on Historic Columbia River Highway towards the large car park in front of the falls and lodge (passing by Horsetail Falls en route).

Finally, here's a bit of advice that we could've used since we happened to miss the desired exits our first time here then were nervously looking for a way to go back the other way! If you're going east and you happened to miss exits 28, 31, and 35, then I believe your next opportunity to go back west on I-84 is at Cascade Locks (exit 44).

If you're going west and you happened to miss exit 37, I believe you have to go all the way to exit 18 (near Troutdale) in order to go back on the eastbound I-84. Incidentally, the Forest Service recommends taking exits 17 or 18 if you're interested in driving the entire length of the interesting part of Historic Columbia River Highway.

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Walkway leading up to the falls

Multnomah Falls in its more graceful late Summer state

The viewing deck right at the foot of the falls

What the falls looks like when there's some sun shining on the cliff wall

View of the falls on the way up to the bridge

The upper falls

Focused on the lower falls

The historic Multnomah Falls Lodge

Looking down at the bridge over the lower falls

Looking straight down from the bridge

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Sweep from bottom to top in late afternoon with some rare sunlight shining on the cliffs


Different more angled bottom up sweep of the falls from the lower viewing deck


Looking down from the concrete bridge towards the base of the falls before sweeping upwards towards the other end of the Columbia River Gorge


Bottom up sweep of just the towering Upper Multnomah Falls from the concrete bridge


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TRIP REPORTS

• March 28, 2009 to March 30, 2009
• August 21, 2009

GUIDEBOOKS / OTHER RESOURCES

NEARBY WATERFALLS

• Wahkeena Falls
• Horsetail Falls
• Bridal Veil Falls
• Latourell Falls
• Ponytail Falls
• Lower Oneonta Falls
• Triple Falls

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