Multnomah Falls & Oregon’s Waterfall Corridor: How to Visit

This is the first blog post about my 12-day roadtrip from Vancouver to Death Valley and back. My aim is to share some ideas for those planning to visit Multnomah Falls and the Waterfall Corridor, while also sharing some of my personal experiences and insights.

Summary

• During daytime hours in the summer you may need to reserve a Timed Use Permit online.
• I highly recommend visiting Multnomah Falls during the evening (after 6pm) instead!
• The nearby Eagle Creek Campground is an excellent rest stop. Reserve a campsite here.
• Don’t miss hiking from Eagle Creek to Punchbowl Falls.

What is the Waterfall Corridor?

Many have heard of Multnomah Falls, the tallest waterfall in Oregon. It is claimed by the United States Forest Service to be the second-tallest year-round waterfall in the USA, but this claim is disputed. Nonetheless, with its impressive height and picturesque footbridge, the falls attract over two million visitors per year. When I stumbled across a photo of the falls many years ago I knew I had to visit someday! It was so great to scratch this off the bucket list, and it looked even more stunning in person (photos below in which I hope I captured just some of the splendour).

What I did not realize was that Multnomah Falls was just one of many waterfalls located along Oregon’s Waterfall Corridor. This is essentially a side road off Highway 84 in the Columbia River Gorge. In addition to Multnomah Falls, within the Waterfall Corridor you will also find Wahkeena Falls, the Oneonta Trail, Horsetail Falls, and Ainsworth State Park.

During my visit in the summer of 2022, vehicle access to the Waterfall Corridor during the daytime required a pre-booked Timed Use Permit from the Oregon Department of Transportation. You paid $2.00 online to reserve a one-hour time slot. A separate timed use permit was required if you were visiting Multnomah Falls specifically. It will be interesting to see if this pilot program is run again in 2023! More info here. That said, I highly recommend that you visit Multnomah Falls and Oregon’s Waterfall Corridor in the evening.

I was not sure exactly when I would arrive, but also wanted to allow time in the evening to go hiking at the nearby Eagle Creek, so I paid $4 for timed use permits at 3pm and 4pm. I unintentionally ended up arriving much later than that.. which turned out to be a good thing!

A Long Drive into Golden Hour at Multnomah

Let it be known that Google Maps does not seem to account for border waiting times at all. I left my home near Vancouver BC around 10:00am expecting to reach Multnomah Falls by 4pm at the latest. Between the 1.5 hour delay at the border and daytime traffic around Seattle and Tacoma (how are five highway lanes still not enough!?), I arrived at Multnomah Falls around 6:30pm, about 2.5 hours later than planned. This had its advantages though! While sitting in traffic all day was not fun, this also meant it was not as crowded when I arrived. I also got there during a cooler part of the day, a comfortable 31 or 32°C (89°F). This was during a heat dome, so spending the afternoon in an air conditioned car was not a bad place to be!

Though long and tiresome, the drive itself also had its highlights. Seeing Mount Rainier appear on the horizon was magnificent, as was the Columbia River. If I had extra time on this journey I would’ve liked to spend more time exploring Mount Rainier and the Seattle area.

Avoiding Boredom

Now for an aside:

When I was preparing to leave in the morning, it dawned on me that with 70+ hours of driving planned for this entire roadtrip, and a very limited data plan, my music would only last so long. I hurriedly downloaded a selection of audiobooks I’d been meaning to read for a while. I never was one for audiobooks in the past, preferring to physically turn pages and stay attentive rather than passively listen to the words, but this trip changed my mind on that! For this portion of the drive I listened to The Art of War by Sun Tzu.

At first I found the book a bit dry, but it had some interesting ideas about different fields of battle and adapting to changing conditions. Not being a Chinese warlord myself, I was curious about how this translates to modern contexts and why this book has persisted so long across cultures. I wasn’t sure where or how I would apply it. I don’t have a competitive business at present. I don’t want my interpersonal relationships to be adversarial. Perhaps, I thought, there is something in there about conquering oneself? OH. That makes more sense. And will probably lead to a separate blog post one day 😉. For now, back to the Waterfall Corridor…

Multnomah Falls in Evening Glory

Along with fewer crowds and cooler temperatures, the evening sunshine made the waterfalls absolutely stunning.

In particular, watching the sunlight glow on the water flowing past the Benson Footbridge gave one a sense of being in a fairytale, or in Tolkien’s Rivendale. I was reminded of lines from one of my favourite poems by Lord Tennyson, The Splendour Falls:

The splendor falls on castle walls
    And snowy summits old in story;
The long light shakes across the lakes,
    And the wild cataract leaps in glory.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying,
Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.

        [for a great musical rendition, listen to Ultimate Eternity by Nomak!]

Camping Near Multnomah Falls

My original plan after visiting the Waterfall Corridor was to hike along the nearby Eagle Creek to see the famous Punchbowl Falls, and then camp at the Eagle Creek campground near Highway 84. The 17 campsites were very nice with decent privacy and I certainly recommend reserving one in advance.

When I arrived at the trailhead I discovered a $5.00 day use fee per vehicle was required. I didn’t have any cash on hand (d’oh) and did not want to risk a ticket as there were visible Forest Service officers in the parking area. I decided instead to return to the campsite and planned to walk ~20 minutes to the trailhead the next morning. In hindsight this also worked out well because the morning was cooler and more picturesque, and I did not have to risk running out of daylight.

Next Stop: Oregon Coast

At the campsite, light from the setting sun weaved through the thick tree branches and gently faded. I had an excellent sleep in my tent after such a long day on the road! I looked forward to tomorrow’s early morning hike and then making my way west to the coast.

Day 2 write-up coming soon!