Visiting Multnomah Falls: Columbia River Gorge, Oregon

Tempers are flaring. Horns are honking. Full on road rage is setting in. No, you’re not in LA traffic. You’re at Multnomah Falls! Hey! Enjoy your trip!

Multnomah Falls, only 30 minutes from Portland Oregon, is arguably the most popular waterfall in all of the United States. And rightfully so – it’s beautiful! But is it worth visiting? Is subjecting yourself to the clusterfuck parking situation, just to see a waterfall? I’ve been here twice – read on for my thoughts!

Multnomah Falls – Details and Location

Location:

Cost: Free

Parking:
Parking can be accessed directly from I-84 – you will see a left-handed exit on the freeway. Unfortunately, the majority of the time, this exit will be closed and gated off, as parking fills so fast. However, you can still attempt to park in the small lot right across the street from the falls. This is where I’ve been able to park every time I’ve visited, but again, I’ve always arrived early. Your best best is to arrive before 9am or late in the afternoon, just before dinnertime. Another option is the Columbia Gorge Express shuttle bus for $5.

If you do attempt to park in the lot across the street (right along the Columbia River Gorge Parkway), parking can be a nightmare. You need to get here before 9am. If you come any later, this place will test your patience and your temper. While there is a person directing traffic, there just isn’t enough spaces for all who want to visit. You may be waved along and forced to continue up the road, without getting a parking spot.

Visiting Multnomah Falls

Once you’ve finally dealt with the parking situation, it’s time to see the falls. The viewpoint for the falls is located just a short walk from the parking lot. This is where you can get that ‘classic’ picture of the two-tiered waterfall with the pedestrian bridge cutting through it.

Multnomah Falls waterfall itself is beautiful (and I’ve seen a lot of waterfalls in North America) so the pic you get will be worth it. We got here early enough to be able to take a long exposure with a tripod – if you’re interested in doing that, get here early!

You can hike to the pedestrian bridge to get closer to the falls, but I haven’t done that yet. I didn’t feel the need to do that; the best view for photography is from the main viewing platform, although, yes, your photos will look like ‘everyone else’s”.

Multnomah Falls Photography Tips

There’s not a whole lot of composition options of the waterfall itself, especially if you want to get the entire waterfall in the photo. You can, of course, use a tripod and take a long exposure here (but that can be difficult if you visit at a busy time).

Another option is to take along a zoom lens, and zoom in on details of the falls – the bridge, only the upper tier, only the lower tier, etc. And of course, you can do the hike to the bridge for a different view, although it will only be a close-up view, since you’re right up next to it. All of the photos I’ve shown in this post were taken mid-morning – I don’t know if sunrise/sunset would provide any benefit, as this waterfall is surrounded by vegetation in a steep gorge.

There are also other waterfall trails that can be accessed right from this parking area (which is another reason why parking here is terrible – some people are staying all day to hike). My sister and I hiked to Wahkeena Falls from this parking lot.

As for the gift shop, it’s a large shop but for some reason, I’ve never been able to find much of anything I really like here. I feel that the selection of merchandise is on par with, say Ocean City Maryland beach boardwalk shops, rather than the nice merchandise I can typically find inside the National Parks.

Multnomah Falls – Final Thoughts

So is visiting Multnomah Falls worth it? Let’s face it, the sheer amount of crowds and the frustrating parking issues take so much away from the experience here, but I will say that this a spectacular waterfall. If you’re visiting the Portland area, this is definitely a site to see, and if you want to have a less stressfull time here, get up early and go see it.

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