If you were to ask me where my favorite places I’ve been to are, I’d answer one of 3 ways: Disney (Land or World, love them both!), ANY Beach (Oregon’s hold a special place in my heart – beautiful, rugged, spent most of my life there. Hawaii – we had the most fun ever as a family on the beach for a week straight! East Coast beaches have such warm water, but too many people! Nicaragua had the most breathtakingly beautiful beach I have ever laid eyes on – better than any picture I’ve seen! Even beat the beaches in El Salvador & Costa Rica) or I would say Silver Falls.
Silver Falls is a gorgeous State Park here in Oregon – less than an hour from my house. Not sure why this isn’t a National Park!
There are many waterfalls for you to see and several trails you can hike. You can go the easy route and see the Iconic South Falls, which someone of any ability can see and experience, because it is not too far from the parking lots! This is the falls most people think of when they go to Silver Falls. We’ve had several trips where we just went to this falls (and then maybe the North Falls)
The scenery is like nothing else. So green, lush, and beautiful. Green as far as the eye can see! It is one of the only places I know of that you can walk behind waterfalls! Different times of year, the waterfalls are fuller than others. The spring time offers some of the wettest and fullest waterfalls. Last time we went in Spring, there was so much water, we got fairly soaked going behind the waterfalls. This year, we went early summer, and it wasn’t too full, so we didn’t get wet. Some year, I am going to think ahead and book one of their cabins for a few nights!
There are also several other hikes you can take to see the other 9 waterfalls in the park. There is one 7.2 mile trail that will take you to all the waterfalls called the “Trail of Ten Falls.” When my kids are older (or we leave the younger ones home), we plan to do this trail again!
There are other trails or ways to see some of the other waterfalls, without doing the one long hike. Some are farther back and hard to get to, some require a short hike and others you may be able to see from the many viewpoints along the road. Their website has a list of the trails and lengths. Don’t let the lengths fool you! We thought some seemed short, but they can be steep! Quite the elevation changes, which aren’t always listed! Some more difficult that others for little kids!
Bring a picnic and enjoy an afternoon hiking around. Bring lots and lots of water, snacks, and good hiking shoes!
This is how the baby hikes!
