Laninga's Travel Blog

Our time in the Pacific Northwest is drawing to a close, and today we took one of our last waterfall hikes.  This time, it was to Latourell Falls, about 40 miles from Portland in the Columbia Gorge.  Not a difficult hike, maybe 1.5 miles and modest uphill.  But a great view of Latourell Falls.

The bottom falls are an easy walk from the parking lot.  A very short, steep, paved path takes you to a terrific view of Lower Falls.  Then, a nice hike through heavy forests takes you to the upper falls, an entirely different look.   There were some trees that exhibited strange growth patterns.

After that, we took the long ways down to visit the old 1880’s lumber town of Latourell.  It’s mostly gone, but this was a bustling town in the late 1880’s.  It boasted 6 saloons, hotels, and presumably other attractions for hard working men.  It became a popular spot for Portlanders, who too a ferry up the Columbia, hiked to the town, and partied.  Some even walked to the falls for a look.  There isn’t much left, we found an old structure in the woods, as well as some of the last of the now deserted homes.

A view of Lower Latourell Falls, 246 ft high.

Upper Latourell Falls, probably some 200 ft tall.

Remains of an old structure in the hills

One of the remaining old homes, now abandoned

Romola by a strange tree

John by a strange tree

This bridge built by the CCC in the 1930’s