Things to do nearMultnomah Falls Recreation Area

Multnomah Falls has drawn travelers to the Columbia River Gorge since the early twentieth century, when the Historic Columbia River Highway opened in 1916 and made the area accessible to the public for the first time by automobile. The falls themselves are fed by underground springs from Larch Mountain above, which is why they flow year-round regardless of rainfall. The two-tiered cascade drops a combined 620 feet, making it the tallest waterfall in Oregon and one of the most visited natural sites in the entire Pacific Northwest. The lower falls plunge 542 feet before the water briefly pools on a ledge and then continues another 69 feet to the basin below.

The historic Multnomah Falls Lodge, built in 1925 from local stone and timber, sits at the trailhead and houses a restaurant and visitor center operated in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service. Interpretive exhibits inside the lodge trace the geological history of the gorge, shaped by the catastrophic Missoula Floods at the end of the last ice age.

Trails extend well beyond the base viewpoint, winding through old-growth forest thick with Douglas fir and bigleaf maple, particularly vivid in autumn when the canopy turns gold and amber above the dark basalt walls. Wildlife including black-tailed deer and a variety of raptors can be spotted along the upper trail. The combination of accessible natural grandeur, genuine geological and cultural history, and the quiet drama of the gorge landscape makes Multnomah Falls Recreation Area a place that rewards visitors who linger well past the first photograph.