Historic Columbia River Highway And Multnomah Falls

I traveled to Portland during the Thanksgiving weekend. The flight from Fargo took me about 6 hours. Multnomah Falls is about 32 minutes from Portland. It's the tallest in Oregon and the drop is about 620 ft (upper fall is 542 ft,  lower fall is 69 ft and there is a gradual slope between the two of about 9 ft). The fall gets its name from the Multnomah tribe who lived around this area. The fall is fed by the springs of Larch Mountain, an extinct volcano. Legend has it, that a Multnomah woman sacrificed herself by jumping off the cliff of the mountain to save the tribal village from the plague. After the village was saved, it is said that water started to trickle down the cliff eventually forming the waterfall.

The Portland to Multnomah takes route 1-84, a part of which is the first planned scenic route in the US. It is called the Historic Columbia River Highway. The historic route spans between Troutdale and The Dalles

Google Earth aerial views of the waterfall

Upper and Lower Falls

Lower Falls

Multnomah Creek in the Columbia River Gorge