Dave Goes Outside: Multnomah - Wahkeena falls loop

A glorious beginner hike for those who want a great introduction to what the Columbia Gorge can offer.

Start at either Wahkeena or Multnomah, it doesn't matter much, although Wahkeena's trailhead is a little higher in elevation so starting at Multnomah would result in the final leg being downhill. Also, if you start at Multnomah, you escape most of the crowd early.

So start at the famous Multnomah falls. Climb up the 10 paved switchbacks during the mile to the top of the falls. It's crowded, it's steep, it's loud and you can hear the highway, but it must be done and you'd rather do it at the start. Funnily enough, the viewpoint at the top of the falls is terrible by gorge standards. You get a great view of the parking lot and a little bit of the river. Because Multnomah is stuck in a notch, you don't get any vistas to the east or west, just trees. It's not worth the effort to reach and I find it funny how popular it is.

The rest is worth it. You continue up Multnomah creek, climbing and passing waterfalls galore, big and small as you follow the creek and cliff edge in places. After a while and several falls, you reach a junction point with the Wahkeena loop. If you kept going up the creek you'd see more waterfalls and eventually reach Larch Mountain, but that's not for this trip. Take the right path towards Wahkeena. Now you'll be doing some slight climbing along the sides of the gorge hills, with the occasional expansive view. After a mile or two you hit the Wahkeena/Devils Rest/Vista Point junction. Up goes to Devils rest, and that uphill sucks. The Vista Point trail heads north and down, and cuts some distance off the hike, and is worth doing if you are tired or this is your second time through. You can instead take the Wahkeena trail straight, which begins to descend into Wahkeena canyon. You soon come to another junction, this one with the Angels rest trail, which I did on another day. This time you want to walk right, but if you go straight on the Angels rest trail for about 30 seconds you come across Wahkeena spring. On one side of the trail is just woods. On the other side a hefty creek appears from under the trail as if from nothing. It's not going to blow anyone's mind but it's a neat little curiosity. Take the short trip back to the junction and head down the Wahkeena trail.

Here things get scenic again. You follow Wahkeena creek and cross in front of the beautiful Fairy Falls.

Then you hit the best viewpoint of the trip, Lemmon's Viewpoint. It's still not incredible by Gorge Standards as the washington side you see isn't terribly interesting here, but it's more open than Multnomah's and still feels rewarding.

Then you have to descend down Wahkeena's switchbacks on the cliffside until you end up at Wahkeena Falls then take the trail to Multnomah back, where you can get food. It's not my favorite hike in the gorge, but it's a great way to start. It provides vistas and great waterfalls, plus a workout without being too harsh on you.