Pacific Northwest Road Trip — Day 8
May 2023
We ate a hearty complimentary breakfast at The Campbell House. I had scones and blueberry pancakes.
We were off to an early start. Both my husband and I were excited to get to our first stop of the day.
1st Stop: Silver Falls State Park, Oregon
https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=park.profile&parkId=151
The drive was 1 hour and 20 minutes via I-5 N.
We entered the park at the South Falls Historic District. There is a large parking lot at the entrance to the hike, Trail of Ten Falls.
This is a 7.2-mile hike with an elevation change of 800 feet. It’s touted as a moderate hike.
I wasn’t sure about hiking this distance, but there were connecting trails that would make it a shorter hike. I decided I’d see how I was doing when we got to that point. When we got to the point where we could do the shorter loop, I was pumped with excitement being able to walk behind amazing waterfalls, so we kept going. I can do this!
We walked behind four different waterfalls. The trail descended through a forest of Douglas Firs to the meandering creek at the foot of the canyon. The last leg of the trail is not very pretty. It’s along the ridge, next to the highway, but it’s what you must do to get back to the end of the trail.
If you love waterfalls, like I do then make sure you do this hike.
Tips:
- We bought sandwiches at the Silver Falls Café which is in the park before the trailhead. We carried them in our backpacks and stopped along the trail to eat.
- Take water.
- Wear sturdy shoes.
- We used the AllTrails app for navigation. The trail is well defined, but it helped us locate where we were on the trail.
- This is a popular hike so get there as early as possible.
2nd Stop: Columbia Gorge Hotel & Spa: Hood River, Oregon
2 nights
We drove a little over 2 hours via I-5 N and I-84 E
This is a historic hotel that has views of the Columbia River on the backside. We got a room on the Columbia River side because we didn’t want to hear the traffic from the interstate. We soon learned that the hotel plays music that can be heard in your room till 10 at night and there is also a train track down below.
After a day of walking over 23,000 steps and climbing 54 steps, I just wanted to crash.
It’s expensive to stay here. I’d recommend you look around at other options.