Having settled on a plan to see the beautiful Columbia River Gorge falls, we had to leave our campground early this morning and make our way back west to the town of Corbett, Oregon. The boarding site for the Hop-On Hop-Off Waterfall Trolley is at the town’s K-12 public school parking lot. We knew from our drive to Ainsworth State Park that we did not want Usain on the Historic Columbia River Highway again. Parking is limited, the bridges are a tight squeeze (further evidence of this below), and everyone anywhere near the greater Portland area wants to see these falls.

Vista House and Sheppard’s Dell Falls

Because we were the first trolley heading out this morning (started at 9am), we didn’t get off at the first stop, Vista House, as our wait time would have been almost an hour to catch the next trolley. We took a picture and thought we’d get it on the way back. With no traffic yet, our trolley driver stopped on a bridge for us to see Sheppard’s Dell below and take photos. This was not an official stop—bonus:) The basalt rock is clearly visible here; looks black when wet.

Multnomah Falls and Lodge

Our first hop off was to see the iconic falls that everyone talks about here. At 620 feet tall, Multnomah Falls is the tallest in Oregon. Lewis and Clark were in this area while exploring, and they mention several falls in their journals. They specifically describe a 300-foot waterfall, but the tour company makes the claim that they missed this one at twice that height. It was officially named much later.

The crowds are definitely here. We walked up to the bridge that overlooks the lower 69-foot drop. The trail from there leads up to the top of the falls through a series of switchbacks. There are signs at the corner of each one listing its number out of 11 total, so everyone can keep track of how far they have left to go during this elevation gain of 870 feet. The trail is somewhat paved, but relentlessly upward. The crowd drops off as elevation is gained.

The lodge’s restrooms are under renovation, so several portapotties were out front. Their website says the work is complete, but it is not. A small visitor center and a restaurant are also part of the lodge. We were lucky that the road east of the lodge just reopened less than a week ago.

I witnessed a wedding proposal (she said yes!) at the plaza area behind the lodge where the hikes start. The bride-to-be was surprised, and family members were taking photos.

Historical note – in 1995 at about 5:30 pm, a wedding party was on the Benson Footbridge when a 400-ton rock broke free up above and plunged down into the upper pool below this bridge. No one was seriously hurt, but everyone on the bridge was soaked by the 70-foot splash.

Next Stop – Wahkeena Falls

It’s a short hike up to the bridge at the bottom of Wahkeena Falls. Unlike the Multnomah Falls, we had the area to ourselves. It’s cooler on the bridge and the mist feels good. We started off with sweatshirts, but those are now around our waists. We hiked further up to the Lemons Viewpoint that overlooks the Columbia River.

The Columbia River is always at our back (along with I-84 and the train tracks), so every once in a while something occurs behind us that causes us to take our view away from the falls. We were facing the river at Lemmons Viewpoint and saw (and heard) a barge warn a sailboat to get out of the way on the river.

Bridal Veil State Scenic Viewpoint

There were restrooms at the Bridal Veil stop and a large picnic area. One loop trail led to views of the Columbia River, and the other trail led down to the base of Bridal Veil Falls. Lots of families were climbing out over rocks to wade in the water at this site.

Narrow Bridges!

The road may be newly renovated, but they have two narrow bridges. We experienced these narrow bridges on our way into the Ainsworth Campground yesterday in the late afternoon. That was part of our decision to use the trolley rather than driving Usain during the high traffic daytime.

The trolley and a wide pickup with dualies got stuck together. It took a bit of discussion between the drivers and trying different things to get the trolley to move forward and the truck to ultimately back up. The truck driver seemed to know what to do. The traffic backed up both directions. So grateful we weren’t putting Usain in this situation!

Horsetail Falls

We had been away from the cats for a number of hours (keeping an eye on the temperature), so we decided to call it a day. We hopped off at the Horsetail Falls, the last stop before Ainsworth State Park, and did only the photo opportunity option here. There are higher falls called Pony Tail Falls, but we didn’t pursue that hike today. This is the easiest to see as it is close to highway US 30 (yes, the same one that goes through Iowa).

Cascade Locks for Supper and the KOA

After riding back to the school parking lot in Corbett, we were hungry and not interested in trying to cook anything. Our campground for tonight is a KOA just east down I-84 in Cascade Locks. There were several restaurants there, so we headed to Thunder Island Brewing as they had vegetarian options. I had a delicious tofu bowl and Tony had a burger and a beer. This is our planned laundry day, but that will wait until tomorrow!

KOA campgrounds always have laundry facilities, and make a great spot for holiday weekends, when state parks are hard to get into. As it was, we wouldn’t have a spot here if I hadn’t made reservations back in April. Lots of families were enjoying the wooded setting, swimming pool, and trike rentals leaving no vacancies.