Columbia River Gorge divides Washington and Oregon and cuts deep into the Cascade Range. The gorge runs for eighty miles along the Columbia River with canyon walls at times reaching 4,000 feet above the river and covered in pristine rain forests. This description alone allows people to build a visual picture of the area without ever seeing it with their own eyes. The Columbia River Gorge was designated the first National Scenic Area in 1986 by Congress and signed into law by President Reagan. The pure natural beauty of the gorge is reason enough to visit, but it offers so much more to the outdoor enthusiasts, from hundreds of miles of hiking trails to world class boardsailing (also great photo opportunities) on the Columbia River. As a matter of fact, the Columbia River Gorge is considered to be the best boardsailing in the world. The gorge is also a thirty-minute drive from Portland.

Photographers are attracted to the Columbia River Gorge for its abundance of waterfalls: seventy-seven waterfalls on the Oregon side. For our purposes, I will talk only about the Oregon side of the Gorge. The area receives more than one hundred inches of rain in most years and that-combined with the snowmelt from Mt. Hood that cascades down the slopes to the Columbia River-results in the proliferation of waterfalls that have made the area famous. The abundance of rainfall and snowmelt in the area is also responsible for the area’s incredible rain forests.

Photographer’s View

Compared with other western parks and natural areas, the Columbia River Gorge is relatively small (292,000 acres including both the Oregon and Washington side) but has a high density of waterfalls. The waterfalls of the Columbia River Gorge are not the riffles or modest cascades some people label waterfalls. They commonly range from a hundred feet to several hundred feet. In Oregon, there are officially seventy-seven waterfalls, but not all are accessible, and many are not really worth photographing. Some falls start to look alike after a while. As with any location, a little research will improve your chances immensely for productive photography. I’ll talk about several waterfalls that are worth photographing based on the surroundings of the waterfall and its “personality”.

Waterfalls are best shot in overcast light. Sunlight creates to much contrast in a forest setting. With overcast skies, there is a chance of rain. Don’t let a light rain drive you indoors. Misty rain provides nice saturated color in the foliage and surrounding landscape. When I don’t get the wet scene I want, on many occasions I have splashed water on dry rocks along a stream bed to improve the image. Dry, light colored rocks can be distracting. A polarizer is incredibly helpful in both overcast light and misty rain. It helps reduce or eliminate glare on foliage, rocks and water. The downside is that you lose two stops of light with a polarizer; therefore, you might have some long shutter speeds. As long as there isn’t any other major movement in the vegetation, long shutter speeds won’t be a problem. You can dial up a higher ISO if you do need more shutter speed for moving foliage. Another solution is to compromise the polarizer, but I would suggest the ISO as my first choice. I would also suggest taking a white balance reading to get the best color results.

Many of the waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge require some hiking. Most of the hiking is along well maintained trails that often climb upward, but they are very beautiful hikes through rain forests with photo opportunities along the way. There are also several waterfalls just a hop and skip from parking lots. Stop at each of these to see for yourself if you want to photograph them; you won’t lose much time.

The following waterfalls are only a few of many I believe are worth a visit. If you have a limited amount of time, these are good bets for classic waterfall images.

Wahclella Falls (also known as Tanner Falls) is a classic waterfall. Wahclella plunges fifty feet to seventy feet between two canyon walls covered in vibrant green mosses and into a beautiful pool. Tanner creek sits below the waterfall and is surrounded by foliage and moss covered rocks. Wahclella Falls is an easy half-mile hike from the Tanner Creek Trailhead parking lot. This waterfall provides several angles to work. You should have no problem walking away with three or four good shots.

Eagle Creek has twelve waterfalls along a six mile trail. Three very nice waterfalls (Metlako Falls, Lower Punch Bowl Falls and Punch Bowl Falls) are within the first two miles. On a good overcast day, you can spend the entire day working along this beautiful trail on both forest scenes and waterfalls. You can work all three waterfalls from the creek bed if you don’t mind getting a little wet and taking a short, steep climb down into the canyon on established trails. Metlako Falls and Punch Bowl Falls can both be photographed from the trail along the canyon rim and are classic waterfalls cascading down canyon walls, while Lower Punch Bowl Falls has a short drop of fifteen feet. The attraction to Lower Punch Bowl Falls is the angle and the beautiful moss covered walls running beside Eagle Creek. With so many waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge, I’m not sure the entire hike is worth doing unless you really feel the need to hike twelve miles round trip.

Ponytail Falls is part of the Oneonta Gorge, a half mile hike from the Columbia Gorge Scenic Highway. Ponytail Falls drops 125 feet into a open pool surrounded by forest. There are only a couple angles to photograph this waterfall from, but one is from behind the waterfall itself with the forest as your backdrop. This is a nice waterfall with a short hike and few people.

Multnomah Falls is probably the best-Known waterfall in the gorge for two reasons: it’s the fourth highest waterfall in the United States (611 feet), and it has a visitor center, souvenir shop and snack bar on site. In other words, there will be lots of people. The reason I mention this waterfall is because it is incredibly beautiful and very well known. This is a tough shoot if your trying to avoid people in your photo. You might want to try an early morning shoot before the crowd arrives.

Oregon has no shortage of beautiful streams, cascades and waterfalls. One location well worth mentioning is Silver Falls State Park. An easy three-hour drive from Columbia River Gorge, the park has ten waterfalls, six of which are  more than 100 feet high. Silver Falls State Park sits in a beautiful old growth forest surrounded by farmland. Not all the waterfalls are photogenic. South Falls, Lower South Falls, Middle North Falls, North Falls and Upper North Falls are the most photogenic of the ten.

There are several locations within or near the Columbia River Gorge that offer opportunities other than forests and waterfalls. One location is an incredible overlook into the gorge itself at Crown Point State Park at the western end of the gorge looking east. An evening shot is best here at Crown Point. Another location is the backroads between the town of Hood River and Mt. Hood. You should have no problem finding some wonderful agricultural areas with Mt. Hood in the background. The Tom McCall Preserve is another excellent location for something different. The preserve is a cliff-edged grassland among rolling hills filled with wildflowers in April and May. The land is owned by the Nature Conservancy and is located east of Hood River. (Take 1-84 to the Mosier exit, exit 69, follow scenic loop for 6.6 miles to the Rovena Crest parking lot.)

These next two locations are in Portland, and I recommend them highly if you’re in the area in late April through May. The Rhododendron Garden of Portland and the Japanese Garden are colorful and offer lots of shooting possibilities. I suggest making the effort to photograph at one or both of these places.

There are many more waterfalls than I mention in this post. For more waterfalls and details, purchase the book A Waterfall Lover’s Guide to the Pacific Northwest, by Gregory A. Plumb.

When to Go

The most predictable time to in the Columbia River Gorge for waterfalls and forests is the end of April through most of May. Spring showers are common. The foliage should be in full bloom, the green mosses glowing and the waterfalls flowing quite well. It’s possible you’ll get clear days in this window, but rain is predictable. If you find yourself fighting clear sky days, then get out early in the morning before the sun hits the forest and out later in the day when the sun leaves the forest.

I hope you visit this incredible area on a future photo journey. You’ll be rewarded with some great photos. Until next time, I wish you well on your next photo trek.

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