To give you some context of my review for this hike:
I am a 5'3'' semi-athletic female (meaning I didn't play NCAA and I'm not an Olympian, but I can hold my own when it comes to hiking and recreational sports - just to give you an idea, because sometimes Yelpers will be like "THIS WAS SOOOO EASYYY" but it's because they're a freaking marathoner or something lol) It's a 3.3 mi trail, I would say moderate hike (not impossible, but definitely not flat, decently steep at some points)
Conditions: Saturday in late May, no rain, temperature low 70s, I'm wearing Nike free runs that have zero traction because I just moved to Portland and have no good hiking shoes (but it's okay, it can be done!) This is an out & back trail (not a loop), it's about
If you're coming from Portland it's about a 2 hour drive to the trailhead, type "Tamanawas Falls Trailhead" into your google maps and it will lead you straight to the beginning. Parking is pretty easy along the side of the hill's highway (lots of good space), with a $5 parking fee (honor system, you write your license plate and time you're going to be there on a little pass and put it on your mirror, and drop the envelope into a box).
The hike takes about 45 mins to get to the waterfall if you're going at a medium pace, with no small children. It wasn't annoyingly crowded on this day but there were enough people along the path. LOTS of cute dogs and little children doing it.
The journey: The first part is like a light stroll on a small incline, and then about halfway it starts getting kind of steep. There's a few bridges you cross that give you awesome views of the raging river. There's a part that can get slippery (assuming you're doing this in the spring/summer and there's no snow) where there's crumbled large/small rocks on the path and you have to be kind of careful where you're stepping (especially if you're wearing terrible Nikes like me...) The hike is beautiful, I don't think there's anything like it in California (I now know why people who move to Oregon love it here...). There's plenty of trees, the air feels so fresh, and I love the sound of the river coming from the waterfall. It's not a boring hike at all, and it's so gorgeous the whole way. If I remember, there might be one fork in the road and I took the left on the way up.
Once you get to the waterfall, it's totally worth it. There's not a ton of signage along the path telling you how much further you have to go,but it's pretty easy to follow. Basically, you should be able to follow the river on your left to go up to the waterfall. There's a point where you've been going up hill for a really long time and you might feel like giving up, BUT DON'T. THE WATERFALL IS LITERALLY RIGHT THERE AND IT'S TOTALLY WORTH.
Once you get to the actual waterfall, there's a bunch of rocks you have to navigate to get up close to it/ under it. These rocks can get slippery when they're wet from the mist, so be careful. But the view is amazing and the waterfall is RAGING. It's pretty huge and you are able to get pretty close to it if you want. If you sit at the base of the waterfall, there's a few places to sit if you want to snack/ watch the waterfall and feel the cold mist on your face.
Going down, it only took about 35-40 mins. The thing I appreciate about this hike is that there's some parts that aren't challenging, and then there's periods where you're definitely getting a heavy cardio/ glut work out. Highly recommend, definitely taking my friends here again! read more