Oregon's Largest State Park Boasts The Most Majestic Waterfalls In The State

Silver Falls State Park is known as the crown jewel of Oregon's State Parks system, world-famous for its stunning Trail of Ten Falls. This 7.2-mile hike is like a greatest hits album by your favorite band: the spectacular numbers just keep coming, one right after the other. You think the tumbling waterfall you're walking behind can't possibly be topped, but then along comes another one that's just as memorable and photogenic. Is there such a thing as too much natural beauty?

Located within 9,000-acre Silver Falls State Park, the state's largest, the trail is a perfect loop that's steeped in this outdoorsy state's history. If seven miles sounds too long for you, there are many other ways to experience the best viewpoints, including a mile-ish loop to the South Falls and back, an accessible out-and-back gravel path leading to the base of Upper North Falls, and multiple shorter loop options.

Much like its midwestern counterparts, Gooseberry Falls State Park in Minnesota or Wallace Falls State Park in neighboring Washington, this park has something to offer year-round. Visit in the spring for thundering water flows or in the summer for dappled green sunlight and trails lined with bright red thimbleberries to snack on. Fall is when the vine maples put on a brilliant show in hues of red, orange, and gold, and winter snows turn the park into a magical fairyland as frozen waterfall mist forms a shimmering, crystalline kaleidoscope all around you (just watch your footing).

Starting at the South Falls trailhead, hiking clockwise along the Trail of Ten Falls takes you immediately to a breathtaking stone-rimmed overlook where you can watch the Upper South Falls' horsetail jet out over a dramatic basalt outcropping, falling 177 feet into a misty pool. A meticulously groomed trail lined with a wooden log railing takes you down elegantly sculpted hairpin switchbacks, eventually leading into a cool, damp overhang where erosion has created a natural path (enhanced by skilled humans), allowing you to pass right behind the falls.

Anywhere else, this waterfall would be the end goal, a hike's ultimate destination, but on the Trail of Ten Falls, it's just one of many stops along the way. As you follow this gorgeous, at times rocky and steep loop trail, you'll pass behind four different waterfalls and linger near six more. At times, you'll be gazing down from overlooks, at others looking up from your perch atop a fallen log, or sitting on a sun-warmed rock, dangling your toes in the chilly water for respite. You'll barely feel the 1,000 feet of elevation gain over this gently rolling hike, most of which follows the Canyon Trail along babbling Silver Creek before returning along the Rim Trail.

Located just an hour outside of Portland, Oregon (home of the country's greatest cup of coffee), Silver Falls is the quintessential state park — so it's amazing to think that this was once barren land, logged and littered with stumps, until a local photographer lobbied to have it turned into a park. The structures and trails were built between 1933 and 1940 by the Civilian Conservation Corps, Franklin D. Roosevelt's Depression-era program that put three million unemployed men to work beautifying national and state parks and planting 3.5 billion trees, including the thousands of firs shading your hike.

The result is a miracle of craftsmanship so thoughtfully and elegantly constructed that it's simply a joy to inhabit — the other reason this park is a "crown jewel." Stone paths and stairways (pictured) are designed to frame the best views, and the park's lodge, restrooms, picnic shelters, and cabins are rustic gems hewn out of whole logs. Post-hike, you can take a dip in a lovely swimming hole if you need to cool down, or if you need to warm up, grab a hot cocoa at the cafe. There, you can sit under a vaulted, beamed ceiling in the main lodge, where every surface fairly glows with the amber warmth of hand-carved wood. For a perfect weekend, you can book one of those cozy rustic cabins via the State Park's reservation system and pretend you're back in the 1930s.