Oregon's Tallest Waterfall Is An Ethereal Year-Round Destination With Unbelievable Views

Multnomah Falls is one of the most photographed sights in Oregon, yet it's hard for any single image to capture the scale of its 620-foot plunge, over multiple tiers, into a foaming, churning pool as black as the basalt cliffs that surround it. Unlike the cheerful cerulean blue of the McKenzie River in Central Oregon, the Columbia River Gorge is all about ravishingly dark drama.

This waterfall makes a striking first impression when you round the bend in the highway, and it suddenly appears, thundering overhead. It's striking just how darkly dramatic this landscape is, especially on a typical Oregon day, with overcast gray skies roiling with clouds in winter and spring, when it's hard to tell whether the chill up your spine is from the bitingly cold mist or the sight of so much grandeur. Nature here isn't concerned with being pretty or picturesque but raw and powerful, with a dark, edgy energy that doesn't dissipate even when the sun peeks out or the leaves turn gold. 

The second impression is how perfectly in harmony man and nature are right here. The reason this waterfall is so popular with photographers and illustrators is how delicately and lovingly its majesty has been framed by the carefully built components. Here, the stonemasonry elements enhance the landscape, rather than marring it, a testament, like Oregon's Silver Falls State Park, to the craftsmanship of the Pacific Northwest's early 20th-century park builders.

The land surrounding the falls was deeded to the city for a park in 1914 by a local lumber baron, Simon Benson, who also financed the building of the Benson Bridge, which arches in superb harmony over the falls' lower pool. It's so pretty and adds so much to the scene it's almost as if the haughtily beautiful waterfall were wearing it as an elegant stone necklace.

The Multnomah Falls Lodge (pictured), built in 1925, is equally magical. It looks like characters out of a fairytale should inhabit it, with its steep pitched roof, hewn timber, and rustic stonemasonry, built out of local materials in the Cascadian style of architecture the U.S. Forest Service was known for in the era. Between the lodge and the bridge, more elegant masonry provides a path and a curved proscenium viewing platform (the site of many proposals and wedding portraits). You can't help but feel like humankind and nature are walking hand-in-hand here. Something to remember and take with you as you leave here and return to the rough and tumble real world.

Less than an hour from Portland, this is the most visited outdoor recreation site in Oregon, with 2 million visitors per year. In summer, you'll need a timed reservation to enter the parking lot from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but you can beat the system by arriving earlier. Better yet, begin your day by watching the sun rise over the mighty Columbia River from Crown Point, then continue on to reach Multnomah Falls just eight miles further east on the Historic Columbia River Highway. Or visit on a winter or fall day, when crowds are thin and the coffee in the lodge is hot.

It's just a short climb from the lodge to the Benson Bridge. Its wide span puts you right where the action is, feeling the velocity of the rushing water — you can feel it set off a hum in your bones. Above the bridge, the 2.4-mile round-trip hike to the top of the falls is a thigh-burner, with 11 switchbacks rising 870 feet. With peek-a-boo views of the Columbia River Gorge (pictured) to keep you going, it's as lush and magical as Portland's Forest Park trails. At the top, a circular viewing platform lets you peer over the top of the falls' dramatic plunge. Here you can turn back, or continue on past even more waterfalls, on the five-mile Multnomah-Wahkeena loop. Returning to Multnomah Falls after seeing her little sisters, you'll appreciate her majesty even more.