Silver Falls State Park in Silverton, Oregon is a gem. A true treasure. A little slice of heaven...and the drive to get there isn't bad either.
The drive is a beautiful rolling drive through lush green farmland (animals not crops. I mention that because I'm from Minnesota and a farmkid so I naturally think of explaining the difference...whereas I'm guessing most people are like...ooookay lady. LOL).
It's an elegant drive through the Oregon countryside and then... you get to the falls. Oh the falls.
The South Falls is like nothing I've ever experienced. We have falls in Minnesota but not hikes like this.
I should probably start at the beginning of the Park because it would be a travesty to neglect it and just mention the falls themselves.
First of all the park itself is neat. There is a log cabin restaurant and souvenir shop. So iconically classic that I HAD TO stop and check it out. It's one of those buildings where your natural curiosity is peaked because it's a beautiful log cabin...so naturally there must be beautiful natural things in that shop. I wasn't wrong. There were beautiful things in that shop. Little trinkets and ornaments hand-carved out of wood. Things like that.
My favorite decoration in that shop was a map and log book of all the visitors that had visited the park. People from all over the world have seen this park. In fact there was a french couple in there while I was there.
I'm always fascinated by how one simple place can lure so many people from all over the world. I always wonder what they are thinking. Are they silently judging America and all our commercialism and greed? Are they just appreciating the beauties that our country holds? Are they wondering what I'm thinking? Wonder wonder wonder
I know, this is a post about Silver Falls not my internal questions. I'll stop now. :) I just wanted to point that out.
Just a glimpse of the falls as you walk to the starting point of the hike. There is a rocky ledge protecting you from falling over the cliff.
I love how the ferns and moss grow on the rocky ledge. I think it's a glorious green hedge of lushness.
Walking along the rocky ledge you get a glimpse of the 177 foot South Falls. As you criss-cross your way down the wet muddy path you are cuddled in by the mossy rocky ledge on your left. On the right is a dark brown sturdy wooden fence protecting you from falling.
As you get closer and closer you are misted by the falling and churning water. It's like a soft slow morning where you feel freshened up by the light wetness not drenched by it.
The start of this 8 mile hike is the South Falls. There are 10 waterfalls total if you continue along the path. I ended up only seeing this one because I didn't have the time to hike 8 miles. Although if I travel out to Oregon again I'd definitely start out in the am and make my way along that 8 miles.
The neatest part of this hike is that you get to experience the South Falls from all sides including top, bottom, left, right and even behind. Yep that’s right you can walk around behind it. It’s a wet journey but man is it cool. The pictures I have don’t do it justice. Some things I just can't put in a picture. You will have to experience it for yourself. I hope you do.
After this image of the South Falls you make your way downward toward the backside of the Falls.
As you get closer and closer the mossy ledge gives way to a very rocky steep rock-face.
At one point the spray of water got so bad I put my camera inside my raincoat because I didn't want my camera ruined. A little bit of wet is fine but a lot is dangerous.
This is the little cavern behind the falls. It is tall enough where you don't have to crouch down...unless you are a lot taller than my 5'4" self.
I'm crouched down here because I didn't want to block any of the background.
This was so neat. I felt like I was doing something I shouldn't be...even though this path is built for people to walk behind the falls. It felt like a place I shouldn't be but was. Like it was a secret place that was only for me.
This is directly behind the falls. You can't reach out and touch the water but you can definitely feel the rush of water crashing to the pool below. The noise is not deafening but it is definitely loud. If there were someone standing beside me I would have had to shout at them to be heard.
As you make your way along the backside of the falls and down the path you come across a bridge that you can cross. This is, yet again, a gorgeous view of the falls. From the front. You can see where you just came from and how big it truly is.
I politely asked a man photographing the falls to take my picture.
Honestly it's amazing to me when I ask people for photography help. They are always willing to do it. Always willing to grab my camera and take a picture even if they have no clue how to use my camera. People are nice in this respect. Always nice. This guy was no exception. He grabbed it right away and took several shots both landscape and portrait.
Crossing the bridge you meet up with the path you were originally on and can continue on the waterfall hike or go back to the main lodge. I went back to the parking lot.
I'm not going to lie, it was a hard hike going back up though, my calves were singing loud and clear, “owwwwww!!!"
As always it was worth it.
Thank you for reading this post and I hope you enjoyed it. If you'd like to read more about my Pacific Northwest adventure click here.
Comments