Columbia River Gorge
Whilst its true Portland has some of the best breweries around you don’t have to travel very far at all to also enjoy some of the best scenery in this beautiful western state of America. Welcome to Oregon.
America’s Hub World Tours run custom travel experiences in the Pacific North West, with one of their more popular ones being the Columbia River Gorge Waterfalls Tour, and there are plenty of them… waterfalls, that is! Seventy-seven to be precise.
Today I was to see “The Big 5”. A little less life threatening than Africa’s Big 5, nevertheless The Columbia River Gorge is just as spectacular.
The first stop is at Vista House, an observatory at Crown Point and 733 feet (223 m) above the Columbia River below. The “vista” you get gives you a panoramic view and a stunning photo opportunity.
Built in 1916, this Historic Places building was totally refurbished to its original grandeur in 2005. With its marble interior and brass fittings it has to be one of the world’s classiest look-out points. The drive up there gives you an appreciation for the designers and builders who put their lives on the line to complete this project nearly 100 years ago. No helicopters helping them lift stuff in to place back then.
At the time, some Oregonians were quite bitter in their “approval” of the structure and nicknamed it “The $100,000 Outhouse”.
Hub’s Tours generally take in five waterfalls on this tour – all of varying style, feel, flow and “wow” factor. Latourell, Horsetail, Shepherd’s Dell and Wahkeena Falls all possess their own experience and none of them have what you would deem a difficult walk to get the best view, but the one
everyone wants to see is Multnomah Falls… being the tallest waterfalls in Oregon will do that I guess.
The falls has two drops, split in to the upper falls of 542 feet and the lower falls of 69 feet (with a 10 feet drop between the two). Adjoining the carpark there is a great visitors’ centre which tells you all about the gorge, as well as a couple of places to refresh, buy a snack or actually have a proper sit down meal and a cooling ale.
The falls source their water from an underground spring from nearby Larch Mountain and therefore “flow” year round with the obvious surges in the rainy season and when snow melts further upstream.
For a spectacular hero shot and photo opportunity take the short trail to Benson Footbridge (which you will see in all photos of the falls). The bridge allows you to cross the falls a full 105 feet above the lower falls.
The Multnomah Falls is the second highest year-round waterfall in the United States. Nearly two million visitors a year come to see this ancient waterfall, thus making it Oregon’s number one tourist destination.
For US$50 this really is a great half-day value tour out of Portland. But Hub’s do so many more tours than just this one, so if you have the time make sure you take in Mt. Hood, or journey a little further to the site of the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.
Whatever you do make sure your camera’s memory card is empty and you have a fully charged camera battery… you’re going to need them!