Wahkeena Falls & Multnomah Falls Hike Guide

Wahkeena Falls & Multnomah Falls are a pair of extremely popular waterfalls located just 30 minutes outside of Portland, Oregon. While most people visit these two waterfalls on their own, it is common to hike a larger loop that starts at one and ends at the other. The loop includes additional waterfalls: Dutchman Falls, Wiesendanger Falls, Ecola Falls, and Fairy Falls, not to mention a number of other unnamed Cascades along the way. The hiking is beautiful but steep, gaining over 1700ft of elevation gain along the way. Be sure to get to this one during off hours as it will be extremely crowded on weekends and most weekdays. 

Wahkeena Falls & Multnomah Falls Loop Quick Facts

Wahkeena Falls & Multnomah Falls Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 Stars)

Virtual Trail Guide: Wahkeena Falls Loop

Distance: 5.25 Miles RT

Elevation Start: 109ft 

Summit: 1,521ft 

Total Elevation Gain: 1,742ft 

Estimated Time to Complete: 3-5 Hours RT

Difficulty: Moderate What does this mean?

Class: Class 1 What does this mean?

Season: Year Round

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Directions to Wahkeena Falls & Multnomah Falls Loop

Trailhead: Wahkeena Falls 

Getting Here: From downtown Portland, OR – take US5 to 84 West and continue on to Highway 30. Take exit 28 for Bridal Veil and continue driving onto Historic Columbia Gorge Highway. Drive for about 2.5 miles to reach the Wahkeena Falls trailhead on your right. Additional parking can be found on the left. 

Parking: Parking for Tamanawas Falls is mostly on the left side of highway 35 with parking for about 20-25 vehicles. There is additional parking on the right down the road a bit, but this is somewhat limited. The parking lot will fill up early on most summer days, especially weekends. There are a couple of non-plumbing restrooms at the TH. 

Fees: There is no fee for this hike as of 2021. 

Summary

Dogs: While this hike is dog friendly, make sure your dog is good around loads of other people and potentially dogs. This hike can get extremely crowded so be sure to pick up after your dog and keep them on a leash. 

Make it a Loop: This is a loop hike with the option to extend your hiking. View a map of the area here. 

Trail X Factors: Crowds & Elevation Gain

The Wahkeena Falls & Multnomah Falls loop is going to be super crowded, there really is no way around it. You can try to get to the hike early in the day or later in the day on a weekday if you want to have the best chances of avoiding the masses that visit this hike. What I would recommend is starting at Multnomah Falls (not what we did) and hiking clockwise over to Wahkeena Falls where you would end the hike. Get to Multnomah Falls early for your best chances at having a little more space on the trail. 

While hiking the Wahkeena Falls & Multnomah Falls loop, you will be gaining a ton of elevation gain along the way. The nice part is that you will make this climb right off the bat on both starting waterfalls and have relatively easy hiking after that. If you are looking to knock out all of your elevation gain at once, start at Wahkeena Falls first. If hiking down Multnomah Falls, be prepared for slower hiking as the trail is very popular and can be hard to pass other hikers in areas. 

Hike Tip(s): If you do not want to hike the entire loop as some online have complained about, hike to Wahkeena Falls and then back to the car. Drive over to Multnomah Falls and head up to at least Ecola Falls before heading back down. The loop in between Wahkeena Falls and Ecola Falls is beautiful, but if you needed to shorten your day, you wouldn’t be missing all that much by hiking these two segments separately. 

Best Views: The entire hike offers beauty, but my favorite waterfall might have been Ecola Falls and Wisendanger Falls. Both of these waterfalls are literally right next to the trail and offer much more seclusion than some of its neighbors. For the best views of Multnomah Falls, the upper view points (not the top of the waterfall, but on the way up to it) along with the famous lower viewing area are the best if you can manage to get a shot without 200 other people in it. 

Wahkeena Falls & Multnomah Falls Hike Route

Gear Needed

• Men’s Trail Runners
• Women’s Trail Runners
• La Sportiva Trango Hiking Boots (Men’s)
• La Sportiva Trango Hiking Booths (Women’s)
• Backpack
• Food & Water
• Optional: Garmin inReach
• Optional: Hiking Poles
• Optional: Garmin Fenix Watch
• Optional: Camera and Lens
• Optional: GoPro, Joby Tripod
• *Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you.

Our Trip to Wahkeena Falls & Multnomah Falls Loop: June 2021

After a lovely trip to Oregon, it was time to end our vacation, but before departing Jackie and I wanted to get one more hike in. We had heard a lot about both Wahkeena Falls & Multnomah Falls and decided the loop hike tackling them both was a perfect way to end our first visit to Oregon. 

We arrived at the trailhead early, around 7AM on a Saturday morning. We didn’t know much about the hike but decided to start at Wahkeena Falls since we found parking very easily. We hit the trail and shortly after were at the base of the first waterfall. It was beautiful and insanely powerful with water cascading down from the cliffs above. We kept hiking and realized that all of the 1,700+ft of elevation gain was going to happen right off the bat. As we climbed up to the top of the valley, we stopped at Lemmons Viewpoint and Fairy Falls. The hike up to the top of the gorge was steep but beautiful with loads of smaller cascades and colorful wildflowers along the way. 

At the halfway point, we were both covered in sweat from the humid weather but the morning clouds had cleared and we could see down to the Columbia River which was awesome. The day took a negative turn shortly after when Jackie twisted her ankle. Her glass ankles struct again but we didn’t let it ruin our day, passing by several more waterfalls: Ecola Falls, Wiesendanger Falls and Dutchman Falls before reaching the top view point of Multnomah Falls. This spot was a bit underwhelming and we could tell it was prime hiking hours because the trail went from secluded to packed with people in the snap of a finger. As we hiked down to the lower viewpoints of Multnomah Falls to end the hike, it was almost impossible to have our own space and the trail turned into a long ant line of hikers covering the paved switchback trail. While the crowds were absolutely bananas, the views of the massive waterfall where equally impressive. We stopped at several spots to give Jackie’s ankle a break and also soak in the beautiful views. 

The hike along the road back to the car was extremely quick and uneventful but overall the hike was enjoyable. If I had to do this one again, I would avoid a weekend if possible and maybe start this one in the later afternoon to avoid some of the mobs of people. Regardless, the Wahkeena Falls and Multnomah Falls loop is a popular one for a reason, it absolutely delivered in terms of beauty and views. 

Wahkeena Falls & Multnomah Falls Loop Hike