February 5, 2012 - Hike 46

Latourell Falls Hike - 2.7 miles


Amazingly, we had another clear day for hiking, but was very cold and windy in the Gorge. We chose Latourell Falls for my 46th hike. It is the closest of the Columbia Gorge waterfalls to Portland. It's just barely visible from the highway, but a short walk up a steep paved path leads to a clear viewpoint. On this day, we chose to do the 2.5 mile loop which visits Latourell Falls, Upper Latourell Falls, decends down to the road where you can cross over to Guy Talbot Park.
To do this loop, begin at the Latourell Falls Trailhead, follow the paved viewpoint trail up to the viewpoint. From there, a dirt path leads away to the left, steeply around the basin. The picture at the left of a side view of the falls was taken along the trail.

The main trail continues and passes over several pleasant, small wooden bridges and then comes to Upper Latourell Falls.

After hiking past the upper falls, you will descend towards the road. You can return to the trailhead by hiking across the bridge, but there's more trail across the road. Look to the left of the trail exit, across the street and you will find a trail that leads to an old set of stairs. They take you into Guy Talbot Park. Guy Talbot is the man that owned Latourell Falls. The trail drops down to a parking area with picnic tables. From there another paved trail heads back under the highway bridge to the base of the main Falls.

Nice hike for a cold but sunny day. Our GPS showed a final distance of 2.7 miles round-trip.