We moved near Portland so Paul can fulfil his need to add money to the checkbook; Teddy and I will enjoy the Sandy River for a few days. We are staying in Troutdale which is just east of Portland and a world away – beautiful tiny town at the beginning of the Historic Oregon U.S. 30 Route which runs along I84 thru the Waterfall Tour area.
You have to register for a time slot during the summer because the route of about 10 miles gets so busy. Troutdale is about 10 miles from there. Getting the pass costs $2 and you have a 1 hour window to enter, once in you can stay as long as you like. We took the route Thursday afternoon and saw most of the waterfalls. I’m still not up to long hikes so mostly viewing from the road.
On Saturday we got another pass and took a little more time. On Thursday we saw this spring coming out of a wall and people filling up so we brought our bottles!
Then we found a cute little market and bought probably one of the best Rueben Sandwiches ever. We bought it to go and moved into the waterfall region and found a spot for a quick picnic before taking an actual hike. We hiked to Bridal Veil Falls which was only 3/4 mile round trip but a lot of it was downhill as you were hiking from the top to the bottom before you actually saw the falls.
The first or last waterfall is you see on the route is Horsetail Falls
The biggest and most famous fall along the route is Multnomah Falls which we had been to many times. You can see it from the interstate. This is a definite tourist stop complete with a snack shack, gift shop, restaurant and a visitor center.
This was definitely a must do for me as waterfalls always draw me in.