In this episode, we take you along an epic three-day road trip to see gorgeous Oregon waterfalls. Yes, this entire trip is dedicated solely to chasing waterfalls. This entire trip was planned around waterfalls in Oregon big and small. The Pacific Northwest gets so much rain and is a land of vast lush greenery which makes the waterfalls even more gorgeous. We detail this Oregon road trip with every stop, where we stayed, the hikes we did, and the best waterfalls in Oregon that are so good you’ll want to plan a whole trip around!

First, we always provide tips for every trip we take. These are things we wish we knew before going or things that really saved us on this trip.

Tips for this Oregon Waterfalls Road Trip: 

• Download offline maps so you can navigate the roads when you lose wifi
• Purchase Alltrails Pro so you can download trail maps to use without wifi 
• Check the weather
• Bring a waterproof jacket
• Bring an umbrella 
• Bring crampons (aka hiking ice cleats) if you plan to take this trip in colder months
• Bring a change of clothes in the car in case you get drenched from the rain or waterfall mist like we did
• FYI in Oregon you cannot pump your own gas
• Research if you need reservations on recreation.gov for Multnomah Falls and the scenic byway
• Pick up water and snacks at the grocery store because you might not have food for several miles during some parts of this trip

The Oregon waterfalls we visited on this trip include roadside stops, small easy trail walks, and full hikes to see gushing falls.

1. Bridal Veil Falls
2. Multnomah Falls
3. Lavender Valley
4. Mirror Lake
5. Sahalie & Koosah Falls Trail
6. Tamolich Blue Pool
7. McDowell Creek Falls Country Park
8. Trail of Ten Falls at Silver Falls State Park
9. Columbia River Gorge – Vista House (not a waterfall, but you have to see this view)

If you want recommendations on the cities to stay in and the hotels we stayed in, listen to the episode!

If you love the Pacific Northwest, also check out our Washington National Parks Road Trip Itinerary to see all three of the parks up there with similar lush mossy greenery and waterfalls.

Oregon Waterfalls – Episode Transcript

3 (57s):
Welcome to this week’s episode of the Travel Squad Podcast. Today we are taking you to the Pacific Northwest to the beautiful state of Oregon.

1 (1m 7s):
I’ve been wanting to do a waterfall tour of Oregon for years. We’ve been talking about it for a while. So I finally decided to book a long weekend trip and I will say, I asked Jamal like, Hey, do you wanna go? He’s like, not really, but he really didn’t have a choice. And I think in the end he was surprised at how scenic Oregon was. And if you haven’t been yet, I hope you use this as an inspiration to go because I absolutely love this trip.

2 (1m 31s):
I love Oregon. Oregon’s beautiful. It’s green, it’s lush, it rains there a lot, so it keeps things really green. There’s tons of Waterfalls as what inspired this trip. I wanna go on this trip after seeing all of your pictures, you guys were just chasing Waterfalls around Oregon. It looks amazing. I haven’t really heard of it, heard from your trip yet, so I’m excited to hear it with everybody listening. And my only one question for you before we get into it is, do you plan on drafting up an itinerary that we can give out to our squatters? Oh,

1 (2m 3s):
You know, that’s a great idea. I, we haven’t done a lot of weekender Itineraries really. So this would be a good one because it’s perfect for a long weekend trip and I can definitely work on that. So hard hitting question for y’all then we’re gonna post this on our Instagram too, so you squats can weigh in. Do you pronounce Oregon Oregon or Oregon?

3 (2m 23s):
Oregon?

2 (2m 24s):
After I heard Charlotte say Oregon. Now I say Oregon Oregon. It’s

3 (2m 28s):
Hard. It’s hard not to take it. Yeah, cuz our friend and honorary, Squad member here, Charlotte Oregon, that’s how she says it with her Buffalo, New York accent Oregon. I love it. So we want to see how you guys pronounce it and if there’s any Organ nights Oregonians, I don’t know how you would even say it. Let us know on how you pronounce it. But I’m really excited to get into this trip and actually talk about it so you guys can hear it. Give Oregon some credit. Cause when a lot of people think Pacific Northwest, obviously Oregon’s in that category, but people really think Washington. But I really think Touristically Oregon is a very underrated state. And even in this long weekend trip that Britney and I took, oh my gosh, like nature lovers paradise out here.

3 (3m 13s):
So scenic, so beautiful. Really, really enjoyed it. So let’s get right into the tips.

2 (3m 18s):
Give me the tips.

1 (3m 19s):
Give us the tips. So first one, my favorite download offline maps. We are doing a lot of hiking in this trip and so you’re going into more remote places. You’re gonna need the offline maps to be able to navigate from place to place in those remote areas.

3 (3m 32s):
Another very solid tip is purchase the All Trails Pro app. So you can get the All Trails app, you can pay for a membership to get pro. It’s so legit with the extra features that it gives you, it’ll make any hiking trip that much better. Why don’t you give just a little bit of brief extras of what you could get with the pro Brit? Well

1 (3m 51s):
You can save the hikes that you wanna do and create them into like different albums and then you can download the actual trail map as well. So even when you’re not in a service area, you can see if you’re on the trail or if you’ve deviated off, which is very helpful. There’s been many a times we’ve almost gotten lost on trails since purchasing all Trails Pro. We’ve gotten lost a lot less.

2 (4m 14s):
We’re not sponsored by all Trails Pro, but how much does a membership cost? It’s

1 (4m 19s):
Like $30 for a year. Oh

2 (4m 21s):
Okay. That’s reasonable.

1 (4m 23s):
It is.

3 (4m 23s):
Definitely makes your hiking trips a lot more enjoyable and really comes in clutch. Another solid tip, I mean we’re going to Oregon, we mentioned Pacific, Northwest, check the weather. I mean it could be sudden rain, it could be warm, you really want to know, but you wanna always pack for the possibility of rain in that region.

1 (4m 44s):
Yeah, so bring a waterproof jacket, bring an umbrella. We went in June, early June and we needed both the waterproof jacket and an umbrella and we didn’t bring it, but we would say to also consider bringing crampons depending on the hikes that you plan on doing.

3 (5m 0s):
Yeah, cuz in one location, I mean here we’re talking about early June still at one point needed crampon or shoe spikes or were the, your friends called them but basically they’re, or no, the snow cleats, shoe cleats, snow cleats, yeah, yeah, yeah. But basically they will help you track better in snow and in early June, one of the hikes that we did, it was really muddy in areas where there was no snow and when there was still snow, we’re trudging through it but only in one location. But do consider bringing that we’ll

2 (5m 27s):
Link to our Amazon storefront for the snow cleats, cran blondes that we recommend.

1 (5m 34s):
Another chip we have for you is to bring a change of clothes in the car. We did get soaked on one hike and again it’s in June so a lot of times you’re not anticipating like heavy downpour. It was

2 (5m 43s):
Raining, that’s why you got soaked. Ah,

3 (5m 45s):
Got super soaked.

1 (5m 47s):
So I would recommend on every adding you do, just have a change of clothes in your car just in case you do get wet. You never know what the weather’s gonna be like in the Pacific. Northwest.

3 (5m 57s):
Another piece of advice, I guess this isn’t really a tip, but just for you to know, especially if you’ve never been to Oregon, you don’t know this, you cannot pump your own gas, do not get outta the car, do not pump your own gas. Somebody from the gas station will come out and pump your gas for you. I thought that

2 (6m 15s):
That was an old rule that they no longer had.

3 (6m 17s):
Oh no, they still have it. They still have it as a matter of fact.

2 (6m 21s):
Well that’s awesome. I hate pumping gas. There

3 (6m 24s):
You go. The organs replaced that thing.

1 (6m 26s):
I heard that during Covid they were kind of like, okay, people can pump their own gas, but like no one really took that in. And so what we saw is people still pumping gas for us. We got our gas pumped

3 (6m 38s):
And Brittany actually has family that lives in Oregon. We went to go visit her cousin, her cousin’s wife as a matter of fact said like when she was in California or another state, maybe it was even Washington driving through like she has no clue how to pump her own gas. Yeah, she’s, it’s like where, where do I even start? You know? So it’s the thing out there. You can’t pump your own gas. So just food for thought going into that

2 (7m 0s):
I, I believe that like it’s kind of hard to pump gas. When I first started driving it was tough. Like I think I even attempted a few times and end up driving away because it’s like, it what falls off? It’s hard. It doesn’t always go in right. Sometimes the pump won’t even start and you have to try it a few times. So I think we all need to take a beat from Morgan. Yeah,

3 (7m 22s):
Kim knows how to pump our own gas now. But I guess we’re talking as a first time driver,

2 (7m 26s):
I still have difficulty.

1 (7m 28s):
Another tip that we have for you is we do go to Multnomah Falls, which is one of the most famous Waterfalls known in Oregon. And so you do wanna do some research on recreation.gov to see that if you need reservations to go to the falls and through that scenic byway sometimes of the year during a heavy season through summer months, primarily they do have it closed off where they’re actually checking to see if you have permits and timed entry reservations to enter that area,

3 (7m 58s):
Right? So even though it’s a public road and a highway and some people live off of it, you really can’t drive that stretch unless you have those reservations and permits that you’ve gotten through recreation.gov. So again, when you go do your research, see if it’s the time that you’re going and you may need that. And the final tip that we have is at least from the itinerary that we’re gonna talk about that we did, you know you’re gonna be going through remote places so you wanna pick up water and snacks at the grocery store, maybe even bring your collapsible cooler that we always talk about to have. But definitely do have the snacks and drinks because you are going through remote places and at these parks where they have the Waterfalls, some of them are state parks, some of them are not just recreation areas, no vendors or anywhere for you to get those goodies.

1 (8m 48s):
So we traveled on a Friday night, we got into Oregon really late, we flew into Portland and we picked up our rental car, checked into the hotel and by the time we got into bed it was probably 1:00 AM we landed pretty late at night. So Friday was pretty much a wash. I think we worked earlier that day. We did. So you know, we always talk about like cramming in trips on weekends and getting the most out of your weekends and your time. So traveling after work is a great way to do that. And then we flew home on Monday.

3 (9m 17s):
Yeah and I just wanna say that real quick, you know we used to hype up a lot and don’t really talk about it too much morning in our episodes, but really inspiring you guys. I mean like yeah it sucks getting in late on a Friday night, technically Saturday morning than at that point waking up early. But you know get past that mindset and actually use that to say yeah I can actually take this weekend trip and do something that I want to do and I just want to throw that in there to, to inspire you guys, you know if you really want to travel and make the time, you definitely can do it.

1 (9m 48s):
So on Saturday we hit the ground running, our goal was to head up the waterfall corridor, head over to Lavender Valley, loop around Mount Hood, which is an iconic mountain, a volcano in Oregon, do a hike and then head back to Portland for the night.

3 (10m 4s):
Well you mentioned waterfall corridor. So for people who don’t know Britney, why don’t you tell ’em at Waterfall? I’ve

2 (10m 8s):
Never heard of it.

1 (10m 9s):
You’ve never heard of it. So in Portland there is the Columbia River Gorge and it’s basically a river that separates Oregon from the state of Washington and there’s a roadway but there’s forests on both sides And just due to like the way that it’s structured, there’s Waterfalls coming down both sides of that corridor that end up dumping into the river essentially. Hmm. And so as you drive that you can see a ton of different Waterfalls on the side of the road or you can stop and hike to someones that are like further in. So there’s a lot of waterfall viewing and so it gets very congested in this area because it’s like a one-way street, a two-way street.

3 (10m 53s):
Well I mean it is a main highway that runs parallel to the Columbia River, which again creates the natural border between Oregon and Washington. So when we’re on the Oregon side, you’re looking right over the river and it’s Washington over there. However, off of the main highway they do have the little side roads, front edge roads, et cetera. And those ones are like one lane and sometimes you need to get off to see the Waterfalls and get to the areas and that’s where Britney Stena can be congested but from the main highway, I mean you can really just drive it but you’re not getting as close as when you get off. Of course. Especially if some of those Waterfalls require a hike, which was the first waterfall that we saw.

3 (11m 33s):
Bridal Vale falls

2 (11m 34s):
Before you get into the Waterfalls. How far of a drive is Portland from this corridor? We

1 (11m 39s):
About 30 minutes. Okay, nice. Yeah,

3 (11m 41s):
And that’s exactly what I was gonna say. This part of it is 30 minutes from Portland. So bridal vale falls once you get off the highway, get to the parking lot, it’s a short yet steep, half a mile hike downhill and basically this is the first waterfall that you’re gonna wanna stop at along your way on the waterfall corridor right here. And it’s a just nice scenic waterfall forested area. Just really cool ambiance. And again, if you know anything about the Pacific Northwest again, at least the time that we went and more often than not it’s overcast. So that overcast DRE readiness in the forest with the waterfall, it just creates this awesome unique environment that just really enhanced the entire experience I think.

2 (12m 22s):
I feel like there’s gotta be some biological connection with Waterfalls cuz Waterfalls are universally loved and just draw people, I don’t know what it is about it but

1 (12m 35s):
They definitely draw people in.

2 (12m 36s):
It’s magical there. So

1 (12m 37s):
To get to this one, you didn’t have to have the permits quite yet. This is the only one you can do without a permit. So we did this one, the falls go under the old Columbia River Gorge Highway Bridge and it’s about 120 foot drop when you get down to the bottom cuz you do have to hike down, you have really good views of the waterfall and there’s a viewing platform as well that you can kind of climb up onto, get some nice pictures and just enjoy it. When we got there we had the Waterfalls to ourselves for a little bit, for

3 (13m 6s):
A little bit and then some people came. But you know that viewing platform that she’s talking about, Kim, you know what reminded me of, do you remember when we did that little waterfall hike in Ecuador? Not the big one, the Diablo one, but the the smaller one And we were in that little platform area and where we discovered, oh yeah we should take photos in portrait mode. Yes, that area really reminded me of that and that experience with that little platform deck and everything like that. So just kind of put a picture to it for you at least.

2 (13m 31s):
Did you happen to get some portrait mode photos with the waterfall?

1 (13m 35s):
I don’t think we did at this point. We should have

2 (13m 37s):
Get some high school yearbook.

1 (13m 40s):
Got them in Ecuador so maybe next time. But this was just like a little appetizer waterfall for little and then from here as we’re trying to get back onto the Columbia River Gorge, by way they did stop us. They asked if we had the reservations, wanna say they’re about $2 to reserve, so not expensive, you just have to go to recreation gov in advance and then you have to pick a time. And so I think we had picked like a 10:00 AM window but they were requiring these reservations for you everyone to have between like the end of May through the beginning of September. And if you were entering the byway between nine and six, you had to have those reservations.

1 (14m 21s):
They were online 14 days in advance of the time that you went.

3 (14m 25s):
So definitely if you want to go beyond bridal Vale falls on the waterfall corridor, you do need those permits from recreation.gov and you’re definitely gonna want them. Why? Because the most popular and famous waterfall in the entire state of Oregon is Multnomah Falls and it is the very next waterfall on the waterfall corridor right here. And again, do yourself a favor, just Google Multnomah Falls, it’s so beautiful and serene. It’s 620 feet cascading down the cliff and it’s sectioned into two spots. So even though it’s one waterfall, you really see two spots of the fall, the main portion and then a second portion.

3 (15m 7s):
And enhancing the beauty is a beautifully spanned bridge that actually crosses. So you can hike up to the bridge, see the waterfall from a mid-level and even when you’re looking at it from the base, just that bridge cutting across it creates this such serene picture. So again, do yourself a favor, Google it, get inspired because we’re really hyped up about this itinerary and trip and recommend it for all of you guys.

2 (15m 29s):
Don’t Google it, go to our website Travel Squad Podcast.

3 (15m 32s):
Even better. Yes, yes, yes. Pictures. Fuck Google. We’ll put the bottles that we took up there. Yeah,

2 (15m 37s):
I actually went to this waterfall in August, 2018 and there were no reservations required then so you’re able to just walk up. But it is really pretty, it’s huge and different times of year it’s more gushing than others. Right. But it’s always beautiful.

1 (15m 56s):
Always beautiful. It attracts like 2.5 million visitors a year and you can see it in any season. Like you can go in winter and see it kind of partially frozen over the whole thing’s not gonna be frozen over but that would add a different ambiance than to see it like in spring when it’s gushing.

2 (16m 13s):
I went in August and it was warm but it was going, it’s

3 (16m 17s):
Going and it rains all the time out there. Realistically, I mean you never know when that rain is gonna come in the Pacific Northwest. So again, Norma Falls is only an eight minute drive from the first falls. We talked about bridal falls just as a heads up, I mean I really would recommend doing this kind of early in the morning because parking there is very limited. So even though now they have the reservation system to just even drive along the road for you to get there, I’m sure they give more reservations than there is available parking because they anticipate people are gonna drive, stop and drive on through. So you don’t want to get there and have that limited parking and have to fight for parking, wait for somebody to leave. So go early in the morning.

3 (16m 58s):
But just as a heads up, limited parking for you guys. We were

1 (17m 1s):
Also supposed to have a reservation specifically for Multnomah Falls, but no one checked our tickets actually.

2 (17m 6s):
Did you have it?

1 (17m 7s):
Yeah we did. We

3 (17m 8s):
Did Because the ticket is timed for the falls to be close to that ticket window for you to actually get onto the road at that point. But then we got there and we’re like no one who’s even look looking cuz you get you, you’ve been there. It’s that kind of open area. They have the shop, then they have the trail that actually leads up to the bridge and even to the top of the falls if you want to do it. But there was no entrance queue for anybody to just really kind of look at it. So it’s one of those things I think they have it and it’s supposed to kind of be approximately timed with your entrance into, you could put

1 (17m 40s):
Whatever

3 (17m 40s):
Time. Yeah, okay.

2 (17m 42s):
Yeah. Staffing shortages, you know?

3 (17m 44s):
Yeah. So we didn’t experience it but heads up you may have somebody who’s really checking for you

1 (17m 48s):
At that point and right out front Multnomah Falls, there’s a lodge, there’s a gift shop. We picked up an ornament while we were there and there’s an option to hike to the top of the falls. And usually I’m all about hikes. Like you know me, I’m like if there’s a waterfall, there’s hike.

3 (18m 2s):
I could see, I was gonna say you could see where she’s going. She didn’t go to the top. I was just as shocked. She was like, you know what, the bridge is sufficient. We went to the bridge, we had to bridge but thank god Brittany didn’t say to the top, not that it would’ve been bad, but the

1 (18m 14s):
Reviews that I read say that if you get to the top you can’t see the waterfall. That’s

2 (18m 19s):
What I was gonna say. Every waterfall at the top, you can’t see

1 (18m 22s):
It. You right. So the

2 (18m 23s):
Bridge is a great viewing point and even the bottom is a great viewing point too. It’s,

1 (18m 27s):
I actually think that the bottom is the best viewpoint that there is. Like the bridge is nice to go to and see it more up close

3 (18m 33s):
And you wanna be on the bridge cuz the bridge is pretty from down there too. It’s a cool like unique looking bridge. Yeah it’s not just like the bridge,

2 (18m 39s):
It’s a cool bridge.

1 (18m 40s):
Yeah. But I do think the most scenic spot is at the base and cuz you could get a picture right in front of the waterfall beneath the bridge. We did hike up to the bridge, got pictures from up there as well. We were happy with that but we did not hike to the top Kim and you’re just showed how shocked you were.

2 (18m 58s):
The best picture that I got there was actually right by the sign that says Multnomah Falls if you angle it right, you can be in the picture, you can get the sign and the waterfall with the bridge all in the same picture.

1 (19m 8s):
Oh I didn’t see that one but you know you didn’t see Myrtle Falls in Washington with Mount Rainier in the background

2 (19m 16s):
I saw in pictures.

1 (19m 17s):
Well I had to see your picture of Multnomah fall sign with the waterfall on you at, well

3 (19m 23s):
You’re gonna see it on Travel Squad Podcast dot com on our blog episode award Oregon waterfall trip here. But if you’re feeling more adventurous than Britney that day and actually want to do the hike, just so you know, 2.4 miles round trip, 810 feet in elevation gain and going up again is for the novelty realistically best views are on the bottom. Go to the bridge to go to the bridge cuz it’s cool but you know you don’t really need to and there’s so many more Waterfalls you’re gonna want to get movement on to to see the rest of the waterfall corridor right there.

1 (19m 53s):
If you don’t wanna fight the traffic to find a parking spot, you can take a shuttle or a hop off, hop on trolley tour to get to this area as well. So there are some other options to get to this waterfall.

3 (20m 6s):
Right. And again we mentioned that there are time reservation tickets, but if you take some of the shuttles such as the Sasquatch shuttle, gray line, open air, you don’t need those reservations because they pretty much assume if you’re on those shuttle ones, I’m sure the shuttle company kind of takes care of it for you and gets it situated. But it’s funny, the first name is Sasquatch Shuttle, they believe in Bigfoot out there. Oh yeah. Like even in the gift shop. Oh yeah. So a lot of Bigfoot stuff they think it’s real. So just fyi, if you see it, let us know. And

1 (20m 34s):
Another thing on the ticket reservations, like I said the first window is 14 days in advance, but if you happen to not get the tickets that you want, then there is a secondary booking window which is like 48 hours in band. So you’re kind of risking it to see if like you’ll get the tickets or not. But they do release a smaller amount of tickets 48 hours before you go and you can try to snag the tickets for the entries then if you wanted to.

3 (20m 59s):
And along the way on waterfall quarter there’s so many different Waterfalls that you can actually stop at. So we’re not gonna go over every single one. But clearly Multnomah is the highlight. Bridal veil is really cool too. First one along it, so that’s why we mentioned those. But the whole goal was to drive waterfall corridor to Lavender Valley and this is an area where they grow the lavender and it’s gonna be that bright purple as it’s growing and in season and it’s a 45 minute drive from Multnomah Falls and it’s kind of at the base of Mount Hood, which again is the famous mountain and volcano that is in Oregon. So we made our way to Lavender Valley specifically we went to Hood River, lavender Farms.

1 (21m 45s):
Yeah. And while we were there it was actually a really nice setup. It was a nice farm area. We did go into the little gift shop, we bought some lavender massage oil smells really good. But while we were there we learned that lavender goes into full bloom in July so we missed it just a little bit cuz we were there in June. Ah. So they were starting to bud and we could see little bits of purple but they said like full bloom where you get those very scenic shots. We were a little bit too early so we’re gonna have to just go back to,

3 (22m 14s):
We’re gonna have to go back. And I would go back, I really enjoyed this trip. But I will say this though, the Hood River lavender farm was really, really cool. Obviously they have the gift shop but you’re not just gonna go there for the gift shop. I mean you want to see them in full bloom. But it was cool because they had little hostages that you could stay at and like wine tasting so you could make little

2 (22m 34s):
Wine up there too. Yeah.

3 (22m 35s):
So you make a little event of just being in this beautiful scenic area with the purple during bloom season at the foot of Mount Hood. It’s just really, really nice. And an overall like adult quaint experience to to have for relaxation.

2 (22m 50s):
So I am looking at a Google image search of Lavender Valley right now. Damn. That’s beautiful. Right? I’m already planning a trip in July, Louie’s birthday’s in July and this year he planned a trip for my birthday. So next year I’m gonna be planning a trip for his birthday wherever I wanna go. Yeah. And we’ve been talking about going to Portland so this is perfect. A little wine tasting, a little lavender frolicking in the fields.

1 (23m 16s):
Yeah, they have a winery on site and they had a cat that roams around the winery named Pinot

3 (23m 23s):
Pinot. I forgot about Pinot roaming around in that little beautiful,

1 (23m 26s):
Yeah, cat was like really friendly and they, they were really like passionate about the history of the Labrador farms and like what they do there. Very beautiful. And then we went to go check out another location called Lavender Valley Farms, which is just a little bit up the road but it was closed because I guess they only opened during like the peak season and it’s gotten so popular on Social Media they now actually charge for you to enter the farm cuz a lot of people go there to take pictures.

2 (23m 54s):
Brilliant. I’ve actually been brainstorming a side business or a future business. I wanna start, I wanna purchase a property around here and start flower fields and people will pay to come pick their own flowers. They can take what they want. There’ll be Instagramable locations around. We might even sell cheese boards and like why not Moosa? Yeah, yeah that’s brilliant. I mean you have a flower field, people are gonna come.

1 (24m 19s):
Yeah. So they only charge like $5 per person. This is where you can get the iconic shot with the lavender in the, for you pick any, I feel like you can but I’m not a hundred percent on if they charge you more if you pick a lavender bundle

2 (24m 31s):
And do they have a bunch of lavender stuff? Scones and lu? Well,

3 (24m 35s):
Well again here at this location I they were closed because it

1 (24m 39s):
Looks like a pretty small setup though.

3 (24m 41s):
Yeah it really looks like you’re just going out there. It was the Hood River, lavender Farms that really had the more in depth setup for you to enjoy the ambience. Whereas this one here is just really a spot for you to go and really take the photos because this location, the Lavender Valley Farms gives you the best view of Mount Hood with the,

2 (24m 60s):
That’s what you can see when you Google image search it. It’s like the big mountain in the back, all the lavender fields in front of it. That’s so pretty.

1 (25m 7s):
But there’s a lot of opportunity for them to expand their business here, you know, in terms of coffee scones, gifts shop. Oh yeah. Like it looked like they had a pretty small setup currently, but there’s a lot of room for expansion I think maybe

2 (25m 19s):
They’re just getting going. Support your local farmers.

3 (25m 22s):
Absolutely.

2 (25m 24s):
Hey Scotties, let’s take a quick detour to talk about our travel Itineraries that we’ve created just for you.

3 (25m 29s):
We just launched several new international trip Itineraries including Tulum and Japan. This is on top of the Itineraries we already have for us trips like the Hawaiian Island of Kauai, the US Virgin Islands, as well as National Park Trip Itineraries, including Utah’s Mighty five national parks and a week of Grand Teton and Yellowstone. These

1 (25m 51s):
Fully built out 20 to 30 page PDF guides are available for instant download on our site. Right now every detail of the trip is laid out for you. So all you have to do is download book, show up and have fun.

2 (26m 4s):
The Itineraries tell you where to fly into the exact route to take, where to stay, park entrance prices, where to eat, driving distance between attractions, the things to see and do, even the hikes we recommend they’re mileage and the time to allot for each one. And believe it or not so much more,

3 (26m 22s):
Be sure to head over to Travel Squad Podcast dot com to download your very own comprehensive travel itinerary today.

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3 (28m 2s):
And this is the location where if you remember back to the tip section, you may want those crampons even in early June here at this high elevation. That’s obviously why there was still some snow and then when there wasn’t snow, definitely muddy in some part. Yeah,

1 (28m 16s):
There’s actually quite a bit of snow still on the trail and there was snow that was dusting the top of the lake too. We could have used our crampons however we didn’t bring them. And another tip for you too is you do need your America the beautiful pass or pre-purchase a day pass in advance and put it out on your dashboard because I think it’s like $5 for parking to do this hike. It’s actually not bad in price.

3 (28m 39s):
Unfortunately when we were there the lake wasn’t very mirror. I get overcast a little bit but because there was snow, some of the lake was still with that thin layer frozen over. Wow. So we got like a nice little frozen view of it versus I’m sure if we were there during lavender season then at that point in time it would look like a beautiful mirror.

1 (29m 1s):
So from there we drove back to Portland. It was only about an hour drive cuz we kind of did, you know, drove the corridor, went to the Mount Hood area and then we kind of looped around Mount Hood to me Lake and then back. So that was really cool. And then we went downtown Portland that night we had ramen for dinner and then there was a parade that night and so downtown was getting a little crowded. It was actually hard to find parking.

2 (29m 24s):
What was the parade for?

3 (29m 26s):
Well basically Portland is known as the City of Roses. I don’t know the history behind it as to why, but basically they were having what they call the Starlight parade, which is when they celebrate like Portland as the city of Roses and you know have this parade where you can actually supposedly the right time of year to have good views of the stars, hence the name of the parade. So it’s an annual festival that they did and I think even somebody that we were talking to who was a local along the way as we were finally from our parking spot walk into the ramen shop was saying like yeah this is the first time they’ve had it in two years since covid. Oh. So people were really excited obviously about it also, but it was starting to look like it was going to rain at that point in time too.

3 (30m 12s):
So we’re like, well fuck, we don’t wanna get stuck here with the traffic. So we just hurried in, kind of hurried out. It would’ve been fun to do if we didn’t have such a big day planned for the next day. So we didn’t get to experience it. But if you’re there during that time, check out the Rose Festival and the Starlight Parade in Portland at that point in time. But the ramen a little disappointing, won’t lie, didn’t satisfy. It was almost like that. It was almost, it was almost like that Boise Ramen we had a little bit, I know

1 (30m 38s):
It was better than Boise Ramen but like definitely not be shock level what

2 (30m 43s):
I would expect

3 (30m 43s):
And I would’ve expected better, you know in a place like Portland to have that type

1 (30m 47s):
Of stuff.

3 (30m 48s):
But what we didn’t realize, cuz we were looking like all best places in Portland and we wanted to kind of go downtown, see it a little bit and this place came up and it was relatively new but it had a good star rating. What I didn’t realize or what we didn’t realize is that it was in one of those type of locations where it’s almost like a food court area where there’s like four different restaurants and then you just order and then you take your tray and then you sit at like a whole bunch of public tables where everyone could eat. And that’s sometimes a big fan of places like that depending on and that’s what it was. And well

2 (31m 19s):
If you’re in the mood for a restaurant then that’s gonna disappoint you. But if you want something a little quicker then that’s great. But I’m surprised you guys didn’t do any food trucks do you know,

1 (31m 28s):
Didn’t realize how big the food truck scene was in Portland until we were there and

2 (31m 34s):
The leader of the country in food trucks. Yeah, just before Austin.

1 (31m 38s):
Just before Austin. And we wanted something that was warm because it was cold in June like we were That’s

2 (31m 43s):
So crazy.

1 (31m 44s):
We were cold, we wanted something to like warm up our souls a little bit. So that’s why we went to the ramen place. We didn’t hit up the food truck but we’re gonna be back, we’re gonna see Lavender Valley peak season. So on day three, which was Sunday, we wanted to see of course some more Waterfalls and we started off with Saha and Kush Falls. And so to get there you actually do have to do a bit of a drive. It’s about two and a half hours from Portland. And this night we were not going to drive back to Portland, we were gonna stay the night in Salem to be closer to where we were going the following day. So we drove the two and a half hours in the morning and this hike is only about a mile long. It’s pretty short and there’s not a ton of elevation done either, but it does have two of the most Gorgeous Waterfalls that I’ve ever seen.

1 (32m 31s):
The Waterfalls are created by lava that poured down the Mackenzie River over 3000 years ago and it started to drizzle on us. But because of that you’re in this forested area, this Waterfalls gushing down the, there’s the fog layer. So it just has this like really cool ambience that Jamal was talking about earlier that makes it like foggy hazy misty and you can just like feel the moistness in the air. We brought our umbrellas and because the, the hike was pretty flat, you can get around pretty easily with your umbrella and like doing the hike as well.

2 (33m 4s):
You didn’t purchase one of the umbrellas that’s on our knocking list where it snaps onto your backpack. We

1 (33m 10s):
Did not. We’re gonna have to get them. Yep.

3 (33m 12s):
I feel like those are better for like sun umbrellas versus winter weather or rain umbrellas, you know what I mean? We don’t

2 (33m 19s):
Know until we

3 (33m 20s):
Know. We don’t know until we know that’s that that’s very true. We gotta try it out in the the wet environment. But I mean these are two cool Waterfalls that are really close to each other. The trail itself was really awesome and like Britney was saying that you know the ambience was great but I mean I enjoyed Saha Falls more. I mean me too. It’s just so impressive because I mean obviously it’s 100 foot cascade, you can just see the white foam that’s kind of like created at the base of the falls too. But what’s so unique about it, like she said, of how both Waterfalls are formed but realistically at Saha, you know a natural dam has been created from the lava flow that’s kind of like hearted and that’s actually what the water is flowing over.

3 (34m 4s):
So really, really unique and I loved it here and again you know it’s one of those things where you just get from unique environment to unique environment all throughout Oregon in this really cool forested area.

1 (34m 16s):
Yes, CUSA Falls is only 70 feet in height but it’s still very impressive. But I did like Saha Falls more just like Jamal said. And then from here Kim you actually inspired our next stop on this list. We went to the Tamma witch blue pool right before we went on this trip Kim you sent me a TikTok video that had this blue pool in it and I was like gotta go, gotta add this on

2 (34m 40s):
Social Media is really good for travel planning, travel inspiration, just to see places people are tagged in or get info about different like Waterfalls or things that you just wouldn’t see by Googling. Definitely add Social Media to your research bucket if you’re planning

3 (34m 57s):
A job. It’s a blessing and a curse right? Because a lot of influencers sometimes will put stuff that’s on there to just put something in content. Sometimes it’s

2 (35m 4s):
And Instagram versus reality.

3 (35m 5s):
Yeah and then sometimes it’s actually legitimate and also the downfall is sometimes a really unique place becomes really too popular than it shouldn’t and people trash it and stuff like that and but nonetheless solid Social Media tip that you sent us over here on this one because we really enjoyed it. This is where we got soaked and rained on at some point here. But yeah Tamo Lich blue pool is 3.6 miles. It’s a beautiful, beautiful hike through the forest that we really, really enjoyed. But this is where it actually started to rain on us. And again going back to the tip section where we said bring an extra pair of clothes cuz it may rain on you, this is where we got rained on.

3 (35m 47s):
I got really wet. It started as a light drizzle but it kept coming and coming and it was kind of like oh fuck this sucks. But then we got to the blue pool and then it made it all worth it to see that view and pay

2 (35m 58s):
Off. It looks really cool. It kind of reminds me of these super deep spring-fed swimming holes out here in Austin but a lot bigger.

1 (36m 6s):
Yeah, it was huge. And what I really liked about the hike before getting to the pool is it reminded me a little bit of Hawaii. I didn’t realize how much volcanic activity happened in Oregon and so there was a lot of volcanic rock on the ground as we were hiking through. We forgot our umbrellas on this hike even though we had the one hack for and so we did have our rain jackets however we learned the difference between water resistant and waterproof like for sure

3 (36m 34s):
Eventually at some point I was able to take the sleeves of my jacket as I was still wearing them cuz you know they go a little bit longer than my wrist squeeze and then just pools of water would like come out of it. Oh my

1 (36m 44s):
Gosh. We were soaked by the time we got to the pool we were completely soaked. My hair was trenched. It looked like I had taken a shower. Jamal was starting to have a freak out. Oh

3 (36m 54s):
Yep. Yeah because we had like a three hour, two and a half hour drive back and I don’t want to be soaky wet dry.

2 (37m 0s):
A lot of your freakouts are caused by not wanting to be wet in the car. I don’t understand you, I hate it. Weird thing with that, I waited,

1 (37m 6s):
He like wet jeans. He doesn’t like to be wet like him and water and wetness. That’ll cause a freak out for sure.

3 (37m 14s):
I’m just sensitive about it. I don’t know what it is but like I said, you know seeing the blue pool and like you said you gave a good description of kind of like that bottom fed Spring. Like it really is a beautiful blue. You mentioned Britney, the Hawaii vibes Sune. Yeah. Not necessarily from the volcanic aspect that you said but it reminded me of it because where you actually see the blue pool is at a high elevation but do you remember when we were in Kauai and at the waterfall and we actually hiked down to go swim? Yeah people came across us as we were leaving and are like, do you know how to get down there? Because they were gonna go down and actually swim in the the rain. Yeah. Yeah. So it gave me all of those kind of big looks. Think

1 (37m 51s):
So. You have to

3 (37m 52s):
Have, we’re ready to go look

1 (37m 54s):
It’s gonna be cold. Yeah you have to have wetsuit for sure. But the pool is just like a deep Gorgeous blue and where we stopped to look over it was a really nice overlook and it was really scenic. Really pretty. I enjoyed it. I was kind of rushing though cause I know Jamal was uncomfortable being wet and so we had to get back and then we were going to do another hike called McDowell Creek Falls Country Park. And this hike was also really cool. We had let our rain gear dry out in the backseat so we like spread everything out. Yeah, I was

2 (38m 28s):
Gonna ask, did you have to do this hike wet?

1 (38m 30s):
Well did we bring, we brought a change of clothes didn’t we? I did. Did we? I brought a change of clothes, I brought two different jackets just in case. But we turned on the heater cuz it was cold and my original jacket was pretty dry by the time we got to the state.

2 (38m 45s):
So was it a kind of a long drive between the two?

1 (38m 48s):
I would say it was probably at least an hour. Okay. So we had some time

2 (38m 53s):
Got to recover from the freak out.

1 (38m 55s):
You had a little bit of time in there

3 (38m 57s):
And the sun, am I the time we actually got there in this area, the sun was out too, so it definitely warmed us up a little bit. And I didn’t need my jacket because my jacket was what was really wet. My pants kind of dried well with the heater in the car. But when we got there, so I don’t even think I cared my jacket and I felt comfortable going around in this area right here.

1 (39m 18s):
Yeah. So we did another 1.6 mile hike, we did this, it’s a loop so we did it clockwise and I would recommend doing it clockwise. The first waterfall that we came across, it was the most impressive, it was called Royal Terrace Waterfall. It’s 120 feet and it’s two tiered and it has a footbridge that goes across it. So you have really fantastic views from it and I felt like this was the best waterfall that we saw in the park and we saw a total of three.

3 (39m 46s):
Right. And then if you continue and do the whole trail, another notable waterfall is gonna be Majestic Falls. It’s only 40 feet, it is a little bit wider, but what made this area cool and I don’t know what it is about like elevated wood planks and like overlooks that just add to the ambience but it had it here. But the angle of what you’re at for the trail, you’re kind of like at the side of the waterfall and almost behind it if that kind of makes sense. So you don’t really get the best views but it is a cool lookout area because you are walking on that plank. So I, I mean I enjoyed this one. If somebody’s looking for sake of time, I would say maybe this would be the omit one. If you were to omit one,

2 (40m 25s):
How much time would you save?

3 (40m 27s):
Well I mean was this a drive out of the way back to Salem?

1 (40m 30s):
No, it was on the way. Okay,

2 (40m 31s):
So you would say you could skip the whole McDowell Creek Falls Country Park and save like an hour, two hours

1 (40m 38s):
Probably.

3 (40m 38s):
Yeah I would say and if you are gonna stop, then stop to take a look because you can see the, the main waterfall pretty close to where you park. But if you wanna avoid the loop, the Royal terrace waterfall that they have there at the parking lot, that’s gonna be the most impressive like Britney said and probably the only one that you really wanna see. But we were there and we weren’t in a rush and it was enjoyable and warmed up after being cold a little bit from that rain. I love

2 (41m 1s):
When you’re traveling and you don’t have to rush and you discover something and you’re like, let’s go check

1 (41m 6s):
It out. Yeah, it’s cool. And so when we were done with Majestic Falls we hiked back up and we felt like the drop up of where Royal Terrace falls starts. So if you did it in the opposite direction, you would start at the top of Royal Terrace waterfall, then go to Majestic Falls. But you would start at the top of that too. So you wouldn’t have like the lead up of like the wooden plank boards going up to like hear the water and see what it looks like. So I feel like doing it in the clockwise direction made it more scenic for us.

2 (41m 35s):
Anticipation.

1 (41m 36s):
It did. And then from this park we went to Salem, it was about an hour drive to Salem and we’re like, you know what, let’s go check out the state capital and see what Oregon state capitals all the time. I

3 (41m 48s):
Mean, you know, we love to see state capitals when we’re in the capitol city of estate. It’s funny

2 (41m 52s):
Because they all look the same. So it’s like why do they keep looking at them?

3 (41m 56s):
Do they? Well

1 (41m 57s):
Pretty much it’s

3 (41m 57s):
Not, not

1 (41m 59s):
Salems was organs was ugly. I’ll

2 (42m 1s):
Say that. It didn’t have like the crown top that they normally,

3 (42m 5s):
No, you know, I’m, I’m sorry for the Oregonians or Organ Nights again, I don’t know how you say it but I, I won’t lie like your state capital, I was just kind of really unimpressed with it. It’s almost like they tried to make it look regal with like granite or marble on the outside and it’s all like this one big slab and it’s not very aesthetically a pleasing. It’s not as

2 (42m 28s):
Nice as Austin’s

3 (42m 29s):
Or California’s or other ones that we’ve been to. And as a matter of fact, when we were in New Mexico and Santa Fe, Santa Fe’s capitol, I couldn’t even believe that was the capitol building. It just looked like a normal building. Oh wow. Nothing about its screamed to me Capitol building, at least Oregon has something going for it in that sense that you can tell but wasn’t very aesthetically pleasing. But that’s neither here nor there, you know, just since we always go to the state capital when we’re in capital cities to check it out, we obviously checked it out but you’d be proud of us Kim. Do you know what we ate that night to warm our souls? Thai food Typhoon. We did some Thai food actually. How was it better than the ramen the day before?

3 (43m 12s):
Better than the Ramen. The day before.

1 (43m 14s):
Yeah. So we had some Thai food, quick little stop. And then where did you go for Thai? It was called Hong Thai. Hong.

2 (43m 21s):
Hong. Hong

1 (43m 22s):
With a like

3 (43m 22s):
Hong Kong. Okay. Like the city Hong Kong. You would

2 (43m 25s):
Recommend Hong Pi? Yeah. Now I was curious, what did you eat for lunch?

1 (43m 30s):
Ooh, what did we eat for lunch? Jamal, I know

2 (43m 32s):
You packed stuff because you’re out and about but what did you eat for lunch? Publix public.

3 (43m 37s):
No. Well they don’t, they don’t Publix out in Oregon. I wish they did Kim. You know this however, I don’t remember specifically but I remember we stopped at a grocery store and picked up some stuff. So I mean probably just like banana, apple banana maybe We picked up a sandwich and we

1 (43m 52s):
Put picked up goldfish crackers that held us over, right?

3 (43m 55s):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So again, you know and

1 (43m 58s):
We ate a big breakfast. We had a big breakfast burrito too.

2 (44m 2s):
Okay.

1 (44m 3s):
So I think we had a big breakfast, we had some like fruit and then the goldfish crackers and then we had a nice dinner and then we met up with my cousin and my uncle that live out in Oregon. They live probably like 15 minutes from Salem, which is where we were staying. I met my cousin that I haven’t seen since I was like eight.

2 (44m 21s):
Wow.

1 (44m 22s):
So

3 (44m 23s):
And his wife is the one who doesn’t know how to pump gas just like you apparently go.

1 (44m 27s):
And when I saw him the first time, like I didn’t even really get to know him that well. So this was like the first time like really truly like sitting down and like meeting him.

2 (44m 35s):
Why did you meet up? Like why did you reach out and say I’m going to be

1 (44m 39s):
There. And so recently my uncle that lives up in Oregon came down to visit my dad in San Diego. And so we went out to Julian with the, with him and we did some like cider tasting and stuff. And then I had mentioned that I’m going to Oregon within the next few months and he was like, oh stop by if you’re in the area. So we did, he happens to live with my cousin. Oh

2 (44m 57s):
Okay. Well that’s good. Cool little some family reconnection.

1 (45m 0s):
Yeah. So it’s good to see him since we had just seen him a few months before. You

2 (45m 4s):
Didn’t stay with them? No. You could have made your trip more affordable. Quad tip, lean on family and friends and

1 (45m 13s):
Crash a airplane. Like hi, we’ve never really met before but can I stand and hi to your house?

2 (45m 18s):
Say that’s what family’s for

1 (45m 20s):
It gets so but well the main reason why we wanted to stay near Salem was because Monday our final day in Oregon we wanted to go to Silver Falls State Park and hike the trail of 10 falls. And this has been blown up all over Social Media. But literally it’s a hike with 10 Waterfalls, 10 major Waterfalls, major Waterfalls.

3 (45m 42s):
And this is a Social Media blow up that is worth it. I was talking some that are duds. This one was like, I mean if you’re gonna go to Oregon and literally only have time to do one thing, I would say do this obviously maybe go to Multnomah Falls, don’t necessarily do the entire waterfall corridor, but realistically this was fucking awesome. I mean just imagine a state park where you can do one trail that’s not very long and come across 10 legitimate Waterfalls. That’s

2 (46m 8s):
Really cool. And how long was the trail?

3 (46m 10s):
Well I said not too long. It is kind of long but I mean it’s 7.4 miles. Yeah, okay. But doable. It’s it like, it’s not like terrible. Right?

2 (46m 18s):
7.4 miles will take you four. Four showers hours.

1 (46m 23s):
We actually got it down in three, so that’s lesson. They’re like nine to 12 with

2 (46m 26s):
Pictures. That’s impressive.

3 (46m 27s):
Yeah. And that’s more than one waterfall per mile if you think about it in that perspective of just kind of walking.

2 (46m 32s):
So about every 15 minutes. Yeah, waterfall.

1 (46m 36s):
So it was only $5 to park the state park. It was only a 35 minute drive from Salem and this was our favorite, favorite hike of the trip. And like this is the must do one like Jamal was saying like do this hike, it’s totally worth it. And we saw the other smaller streams, falls, creeks and we did this hike in a clockwise direction and we would recommend doing repeating it in that direction.

3 (46m 60s):
Yeah. So like I said, 7.4 miles initially like about 1100 feet in elevation gain. But realistically at the parking lot, the first waterfall you come across, you literally see the top of the waterfall as it’s actually flowing over and you can look down, it’s really impressive. But the trail starts by going down and then the trail goes behind that giant waterfall. So several Waterfalls on this trail, you actually go behind it, which I always think is really fun. But this first one is the most grand one to like really get you excited and the momentum keeps going because I, I don’t want to say like each waterfall gets better and better cuz that’s not necessarily the case, but they’re all 10 impressive Waterfalls.

3 (47m 43s):
It’s not like, oh here’s one and it’s done. Yeah, they’re all good. Sometimes

2 (47m 47s):
You go on hikes and they’re like, it’s a waterfall hike and then you get to the waterfall and it’s like four feet. Yeah,

3 (47m 53s):
That’s not the case on this one. Not the case on this one

1 (47m 56s):
You can actually go behind four of the waterfall on this trail and it does get pretty misty and you can feel like how powerful they are. You’re like right behind them and you can hear like the water crashing and cascading down like beneath it. So that was really cool. We did get little wet because it was misty and then

2 (48m 14s):
And how did Jamal handle that?

1 (48m 16s):
I think he was like a little bit more well prepared this day. We had our umbrella, we

3 (48m 20s):
Had our umbrellas and I don’t mind the mist coming from the Waterfalls, it’s the consistent, I’m gonna stay in the rain and get wet. So it did start eventually raining on us a little bit after like the first waterfall or two. We had our umbrellas and that pretty much mitigated it. And then it was such a light trickle after that and it then eventually stopped that we did not get wet. So I handled it well on this little adventure right here.

1 (48m 47s):
It does go in a loop and because it’s a longer trail, there are other parking areas that will start you at different Waterfalls. So we started at like the main one. But if that parking’s filled up and you go to a different parking spot, you can still do the same trail, still do it in a loop, you’ll just start at a different waterfall than what we in that. And so there are a lot of different options. And then also I’m gonna call all trails out on this because I feel like the All Trails Map did not do this Trail and E Justice at

3 (49m 18s):
One point. At one point. At one point only.

1 (49m 20s):
So we’re on our way to the 10th waterfall. It’s the final one. We’re so excited to see the last one, the trail of 10 falls. Gotta see it the way that all trails has you going only has you go to the top of it. So you, and you can’t really even see down. They didn’t have it mapped so that you go down to see it and then come back up. And that was really disappointing. So disappointing that at that point, Jamal and I had passed it. We’re like, ah, we don’t wanna go backwards. So

3 (49m 48s):
Yeah, because we saw a spa where you could go down, but the trail didn’t say to go down, at least on the all trail map. So we thought, okay, well if we continue on, because again it’s a loop, we’ll get like a better view. And as we went on we realized, oh fuck, well we’re not getting a better view. And then we were like, damn it. Like do we really wanna walk back now at this point and go down? And we said no. And then as we got to the car, finally we were like, God damn, like we missed it. I mean we did nine, the 10th wasn’t very good, but at least where we were at the top there was a road. So we made the decision we’re gonna drive and park there cause it wasn’t too far from where our car was. And we’re like, we’re gonna hike down to that portion and actually see

1 (50m 29s):
It. Yeah. So we drove to where the 10th one is and then we just did the hike down, saw it, really glad we actually did see it and then went back up to our car. Nice. So it worked out. But So

2 (50m 39s):
You could technically drive to each one of the spots and just hike down?

3 (50m 42s):
No,

1 (50m 43s):
Not all of them. No. There are probably like four or five different areas you could park in, but you’re not gonna hit all of the falls driving. Okay. But you can see some of them like

3 (50m 52s):
That. Yeah, some of the falls for sure. Like you have to be on the trail. But she said four or five, if I remember correctly. I would say like only four of them maybe you could actually park at and have semi immediate access to.

1 (51m 4s):
Our favorite waterfall was the first waterfall, it was called South Falls waterfall. So if you don’t have the time to do the hike of 10 falls or you’re not able to do the hike, going to see this one, which is pretty close to the parking lot is definitely worth it. And it’s very accessible. The trail down is paved, so that’s really nice as well. And it’s the tallest waterfall in the park as well. It’s like 175 feet.

3 (51m 28s):
And like I said, this was the first one that we said was awesome. Really got us going and then you could go behind it. So there’s definitely a little hike down. It’s paved. So I would say again, only if one like Britney said, do that one. And I mean I just love this. I mean Silver Falls State Park, so unsuspecting and here you are, you got yourself Tin Waterfalls on this trail. Really fucking cool. And I would wager to say the highlight of the trip

1 (51m 54s):
From here, we drove back to Portland. It was about an hour and a half drive back to Portland. And then since Jamal had to stick out the whole weekend with me, I’d agreed to do dim sum at Duckhouse. And we got these swan chili dumplings and soup dumplings. Have you ever had soup dumplings,

2 (52m 11s):
Shek?

3 (52m 11s):
I don’t know how to say it and the proper language, but maybe that’s what it is. Those are soup

2 (52m 17s):
Dumplings. Soup dumplings. Yeah. Amazing.

1 (52m 19s):
We’re like when you bite inside the dumpling, all of the soup like seeps out. It was so good. So we had that and then we had a little time before our flight out and I really wanted to see some scenic areas of the Columbia River Gorge, like that scenic byway because we drove it. But there are essentially like overlooks and cliffs that look down into it. And so I wanted to see some of those to get a better perspective. And so we ended up going to the Vista house, which has like really panoramic views of the gorge. And it was actually built as a rust stop for people that were driving that highway. And it had really good views of the river itself, the Washington side, and just kind of like it had a different view in ambience, so So

2 (53m 4s):
It’s just kind of an overlook, it’s not like a lodge or restaurant, anything like that?

1 (53m 8s):
No. And then we also stopped at the Portland Woman’s Forum state scene a viewpoint and you’re, you have like the straight on view of the gorge in front of you and it’s also a really popular spot because from there you can see the Vista house and so you can take photos of the Gorge plus the Vista house in the distance.

3 (53m 27s):
Yeah. So we didn’t have time to do this on our first day when we were doing the initial drive of the waterfall corridor because again, we had a long day that day and we’re like, oh, these stops, you know, is gonna take a little bit more time. And so we’ve spit that in Before we headed to the airport, we had a 6:00 PM flight home. And I mean shit, I’m ready to go back to Oregon and do this again and maybe go during lavender season. I’m just gonna throw it out right now. Couples trip, bring Louie. Hell yeah. We’re gonna stay in Lavender Valley, do some wine tasting, all that. It’s gonna be real, real nice. Yeah,

1 (54m 0s):
We did have a few things that we had to cancel from this trip because of weather and other issues. So we wanted to go to another waterfall called Proxy Falls, but the road isn’t open until July. And so that road was still closed because of where it is. It was still snowy. And then I wanted to go to a natural hot spring, but the road was closed due to a previous fire. Wow. So that’s why we ended up adding what you recommended Kim, the blue pool because it was kind of in that same area. So we’re like, since we can’t go to those two things, we’ll just go to the blue pool and we’re really glad we did. It was very scenic. Even though Jamal had a freak out,

3 (54m 35s):
I got soaked, had a two hour drive in front of me, but I enjoyed it. Kim, it’s your time of the week.

2 (54m 41s):
Ooh. It’s questions of the week. So I had a lot of questions during this episode, but one of the listener questions that came in was, what other destinations in Oregon do you recommend?

3 (55m 1s):
Ooh, off the top of my head for sure. Crater Lake, it is Oregon’s only National Park. Brittany and I have gone before. Unfortunately you aren’t with us on that one. I actually went with my sisters UA and Zena on that trip one time when we were visiting home in Sacramento. But definitely go to Crater Lake. So scenic so beautiful. Oregon’s a hidden gem. I’m just gonna say it. I

2 (55m 24s):
Wanna go to the coast of Oregon. Yes. And see that Rugged coast with big Boulders.

1 (55m 29s):
Yeah, I do wanna go to Oregon coast. And also I’ve heard really good things about Bend, which have like a lot of hiking and kind of near that central part of Oregon. There is like a wine country up there. Wine country. So definitely wanna check that out as well. I

2 (55m 46s):
Would like to do Portland again too. I only spent one night there. Company was kind of lame. I think I could do a better job of seeing Portland, experiencing Portland.

1 (55m 56s):
Question number two that we got from our listener is, can you see these Waterfalls any time of year? Well Noma Falls, you definitely can. However, some of these other ones you are going into like mountainous regions, it’d probably be harder to see them.

2 (56m 10s):
I’m surprised to hear about the snow, especially in June. Did you guys rent an SUV when you were up there? No.

1 (56m 16s):
No.

2 (56m 16s):
You had a regular car?

3 (56m 17s):
We had a regular car. Okay. Regular car. You know, it’s one of those things where, I mean, you just really never know. It could be a dry winter season and it could dry up. I would say for the most part, you can expect to see Waterfalls. Multnomah for sure. I’m sure if you go to Silver Falls State Park and do the trail of 10, we’ll all 10 be going, don’t know. But will a majority of them be going all year round? Probably on that. So I guess it’s one of those things to really see, I don’t know, we didn’t Google ourselves to figure out, are all these falls running consistently, you know, every year, but there, but there’s a good chance that you are gonna go and see Waterfalls running. We

2 (56m 55s):
Chances are high, right? There’s the chances are hundreds of Waterfalls up there. So, but

1 (56m 59s):
Can you get to them in winter, I guess is what I was reading out of this question. Like can you see them at any time of the year? I don’t know if all of them are accessible in winter.

3 (57m 8s):
See I read it as for like summer seasons. Like will they dry up? That’s the way I read.

2 (57m 12s):
I see snow.

1 (57m 13s):
Yeah,

2 (57m 14s):
Just blocked from snow blocking roads.

1 (57m 16s):
Like Proxy falls was closed because of snow. Yeah. So some of the other remote ones, I would think maybe you couldn’t get to them in fourth when it rains quite a bit of the year. Like more of the year is rainy than Sunny.

2 (57m 28s):
So maybe summer fall is a good time to go.

1 (57m 30s):
Yeah. And the reason why we picked June was I was trying to get late spring so that the Waterfalls were gushing and they definitely were. They definitely

2 (57m 38s):
Were. Our third and final question is, do you recommend non-slip shoes? By that I’m thinking non-slip hiking shoes.

1 (57m 46s):
Definitely because it was wet a lot of the time. And so you do want non-slip hiking shoes. And I would recommend using hiking shoes and not tennis shoes or sneakers

2 (57m 56s):
For every single one of these hikes. Mo Noma Falls. I think you can get away with rigging shoes.

3 (58m 0s):
You can definitely, especially if you’re gonna stay at the bottom. If you’re gonna hike up to the bridge, maybe you want something with a little bit of grip, but I still think you’ll be fine. But other places when we were in forested areas and it was muddy, so do you wanna get regular shoes muddy? You want hiking shoes. Hiking shoes inherently have grip. And then on top of that, even at the state park, the Silver Falls, you know, some of it was paved, some of it not. But in those areas where it’s like really, really misty and you’re on a paved area, it can be slippery. So I would definitely say non-slip shoes of some sort or something with grip.

2 (58m 35s):
Absolutely. Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun there. And I’m really inspired to go. I mean, I love Waterfalls. Who doesn’t love Waterfalls? I don’t mind getting wet by the rain. I don’t

3 (58m 47s):
Know what TLC was talking about when they’re talking about Don’t go chase it though.

2 (58m 50s):
Seriously. Like the opposite. Go chase. That’s what this episode will be titled. Go chase those Oregon waterfalls.