Another Great Waterfall Hike - Latourell Falls, Oregon…

We sure have been enjoying our time here in Portland, Oregon. The mix of hiking in the Portland neighborhoods along with hiking in the Columbia Gorge has made this a great stop. When we crave a little peace and solitude we simply head east about 30 minutes and we land in expansive, beautiful country.On one of those days we decided to do another waterfall hike, the Latourell Falls. The falls are close to the road but we found a nice three mile loop that took us there on a longer route.

As with any hike here we began climbing almost immediately but after just a short climb we arrived at the Latourell Falls Viewpoint where we had unabated views of the thin but very long falls. At this time of the year we were told that this falls has little water when compared to earlier in the summer. We couldn’t care less because this waterfall was as beautiful and impressive as any of the other we visited with the exception of Multnomah Falls.

From the viewpoint we continued to climb or as Sharon calls it, we continued with "John’s Boot Camp". The woods along Henderson Creek are dense but occasionally we could get glimpses of the River below. Next we found the Upper Latourell Falls which are two-tiered with an initial drop and then a plunge into the pool below. Simply beautiful…

After leaving Upper Latourell Falls we came to an impressive overlook of the gorge as well. Following the trail along the mountainside we eventually began to descend until the trail crosses Historic Highway 30. A short way down another hill we entered what is known as Guy W. Talbot State Park.

Guy Talbot is the fellow who donated all this land including the land where Latourell Falls is to the state of Oregon in 1929. This land was once his private summer estate until it was donated. The mix of Cedars, Firs and Maples will surely make this a beautiful place to picnic once fall arrives and it is just around the corner.

Leaving the park on the trail we saw a bridge that was built around 1914. This scenic bridge is unique in that it utilized some special lightweight construction due to all the unstable soils in this area. A little further down we began to hear water roar again and the trail took us to the base of Latourell Falls and what a fabulous sight this was…The brilliant yellow colored lichen covered columnar basalt formations all around the waterfall were stunningly beautiful. What another must do hike we found in this area…

Leaving the park on the trail we saw a bridge that was built around 1914. This scenic bridge is unique in that it utilized some special lightweight construction due to all the unstable soils in this area. A little further down we began to hear water roar again and the trail took us to the base of Latourell Falls and what a fabulous sight this was…The brilliant yellow colored lichen covered columnar basalt formations all around the waterfall were stunningly beautiful. What another must do hike we found in this area…