Beaver Falls Trail

…Beaver Falls is one of those spots where if you’re looking to avoid the crowd of the Columbia River Gorge, this is another good alternative on where you could go. Not only is that a huge plus, but it’s not often you get to experience a scenic waterfall that you don’t have to put in a ton of effort to get to. You’ll most likely see a few other people here, but not as many as you would at the CRG. As you drive down old Highway 30, which is now called Beaver Falls Road, you will pass over several historic bridges that date to when the original road was finished in 1918.

The trail to Beaver Falls is only 0.3 miles one way, and offers a rewarding excursion passing through hanging moss covered tree branches, Douglas-firs, Western red-cedar, Western Hemlock, and big-leaf maple. There is poison oak, so make sure to keep a lookout for that on the side of the trail. Once you’ve hiked through all that and a few minor switchbacks, you’ll arrive to a setting that resembles (at least it did to me) a scenery from Maui, Hawaii. The waterfall is roughly 50 ft. tall and can swell anywhere from 20-40 ft. wide. The pool below Beaver Falls sits in a beautiful basalt amphitheater, which was once created by molten lava. Some of the basalt columns have a perfectly shaped hexagon shape to them, which makes them pretty cool to look at! You can scramble your way around and behind the falls too, just be careful as some of the rocks are slippery and mossy. If you're feeling daring enough, you can even cliff jump off the larger boulder to the right of the falls. 

The best time to view the falls when it’s raging at its finest is between December and early April. I went in the month of July and I was still happily impressed with the flow and the views. When you’re all done hanging out, swimming and/or photographing, head back the same way you came.

The parking lot for the trail is free and you don’t need any kind of passes to hike here. As always, remember to pack out what you pack in and never stop exploring!