Chasing waterfalls in Columbia River Gorge, Oregon in a day

It was a weekend trip to the Portland area in Oregon from Seattle which we did on Friday and planned the Saturday to drive along the Columbia River Gorge and the mission was to experience as many waterfalls as possible. The first spot of the day was Chantclear point where you can see the vast stretch of the mighty Columbia River, its twists and turns with a backdrop of the cascades mountains around. It’s an amazing landscape up from the viewpoint. It takes you through the historic Columbia River highway.

The second stop of the day was the vista house located at the Crown Point State Scenic Corridor is my personal favorite. You get almost the same view as from the Chantclear point but since it’s an open space the views are quite amazing. We did spend some time in the area even though vista house was closed because of covid. One thing I am convinced of is that I did not realize how time went by just soaking in the landscape.

Latourell Falls comes the next and is awe-inspiring. It’s a small walk from the parking lot to the falls. It’s a single plunge waterfall of about 224 feet, here are formations of basalt columns around the falls which gives a very different eye to the falls. There is even a Latourell Falls loop hike of about 2.4 miles which we could not do but if you have time you can check it out.

After spending a while just soaking in the splashes of the waterfall, we made our way to the next waterfall which is the Bridal Veil Falls. It’s in the middle of lush greenery around it. You will definitely have a Zen-like experience to actually view those falls in real. Pacific Northwest is worth its hype in every sense, full of lush greenery and the amount of nature it has to offer, words are not sufficient enough to justify.

Moving on to the next spot of the day it was the Wahkeena Falls. It was a small hike to reach the falls but it is all worth the sweat you put in. You can actually carefully go close to the fall’s base and enjoy the water splash from far.

Since Wahkeena falls is very close to the very famous Multnomah Falls we hiked around 0.5 miles to the falls which were easy and convenient because we did not have to go crazy to park in two different places which are so nearby. Multnomah Falls is no doubt one of the most famous picturesque places to capture the photos of the two falls. It’s even fun to climb to the upper falls and take a look around the surrounding.

The fifth waterfalls are the Horsetail Falls which is again so beautiful and the good thing is that you don’t have to walk too much it’s just by the side of the road. Sometimes you would feel that all of the falls look alike which is in a way true but the vibe you get when you hear the roaring sound made by the water hitting and plunging its base is just serene and blissful.