Multnomah Falls - Oregon Waterfalls; Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Multnomah Falls-hike/trail/map/directions

Multnomah Falls is, of course, THE place to stop for tourists in the Columbia River Gorge area in Oregon. It is awesome how this waterfall seems to "tower" over everything, a sight to see. However, you will not have this wonderful waterfall to yourself. Try to get there early in the morning to avoid the rush. At around sunrise, there will probably be very few, if any, other people here, and it is a wonderful experience viewing this waterfall with no one else around. But at any other time of day, the hordes of people around the falls ruin the experience in my opinion. After you have had enough time basking in the presence of Multnomah, hike up to the top of the waterfall (2 miles RT). Theres not really a good view of the falls from the top, but there are other waterfalls up there, and also some good views of the Columbia River, and you can peer down at all the people looking up at the falls from the viewpoints below.

There are a couple interesting things that I wonder about Multnomah Falls. The first, is that it is commonly advertised as being the 2nd highest "year-round" waterfall in the United States, after Yosemite Falls (and the 4th highest in all the U.S.). It is nowhere near being the 2nd highest year-round falls in the U.S. Here are just a very few that are higher: Bridalveil Falls, Chilnualna Falls, Colonial Creek Falls, Hanakapiai Falls.

The second thing is its listed "official" height of 611 ft. I wonder if that is really the correct height. I measured it as being 599 ft. high. The upper section I measured to be 540 ft., which is very close to the official height of 542 ft. The lower section I measured to be 59 ft. high, compared to the official 69 ft. There is, however, a small drop at the top of Multnomah that is sometimes called "Little Multnomah Falls", and it is about 10 ft. high, so that could possibly make up the difference in the overall height of 611 ft. I'm not confident about that, though, because if this was the case, then the lower section official height would be 59 ft., not 69 ft. It is a bit of a mystery.

Multnomah Falls OR (Elev. 200 ft)

Overnight
Rain, mainly before 4am. Low around 43. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Thursday
A slight chance of rain before 7am, then a slight chance of showers after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 64. East northeast wind 6 to 8 mph becoming west southwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Thursday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 45. Southwest wind around 6 mph becoming light and variable after midnight.
Friday
Rain likely after 11am. Increasing clouds, with a high near 66. East northeast wind 7 to 9 mph becoming south southeast in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Friday Night
Rain. Low around 47. North northeast wind around 9 mph becoming west southwest after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Saturday
Rain. High near 54. Chance of precipitation is 100%.
Saturday Night
Showers. Low around 44. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 90%.
Sunday
Showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 53. Breezy.
Sunday Night
Showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 46. Breezy.
Monday
Rain before 11am, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 53. Breezy.
Monday Night
Rain and possibly a thunderstorm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 43.
Tuesday
Rain. Partly sunny, with a high near 54.
Tuesday Night
Rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 42.