Our final “destination” of this trip was Silver Falls State Park, just to the SE of Salem, Oregon, and the “Trail of Ten Falls.” We thought we had seen plenty of falls on this trip, and I wasn’t sure it would be worth the effort. But it came highly recommended by folks whose opinions we trust, so we pulled in to the Silver Spur RV Park in Silverton, just north. Do you think they mined some silver around these parts? This turned out to be an excellent park and we recommend it if you’re going to be in the area. Clean, modern, and with all the facilities. It was raining when we pulled in, but soon stopped, so off came the scoot, we dried it off, and were good to go.
We were very glad we did. We had about a twenty mile ride to the park through rolling countryside dotted with Christmas tree farms. From the look of the farm manse on the hill, business is good.
We didn’t actually do the Trail, as it is almost nine miles long and it was already mid afternoon when we arrived, but you can scoot to various locations and see the principal falls via short hikes. And wow, were these neat. We started at the South Falls, which are 177 feet high.
Now, it sort of looks nice in that pic, but you really need some perspective to get the full impact of the size. If you look at the rock face, just above Loni’s hat there is a horizontal crease that runs all the way across. That’s a path that allows you to walk behind the falls. Loni went on ahead while I waited to shoot this photo. That little orange blip is her on the trail. Yeah, they’re huge!
Below the South Falls, there’s a picturesque bridge across this fork of the Silver (natch) Creek.
There were very few people around, so it felt like we had this all to ourselves. After hiking around awhile, we hiked back up to the scoot and took off for the North Falls Trailhead. Loni has her trusty REI collapsible hiking pole with her. She is a really tentative hiker when we’re anywhere near water.
There are two falls at this trailhead, the Upper North and the just plain North Falls. The Upper is “only” 65 feet, but it is really a beautiful setting. We exchanged “take your picture together?” with another couple.
The main North falls took a bit more hiking down from the Trailhead along a cliff-face trail that was rocky and wet. On the other side of that fence is a sheer drop of a couple hundred feet. That’s why I send Loni ahead.
The North falls are 136 feet high, and the shape of the canyon walls captures and rebounds the roar to almost a deafening level. You have to shout to make yourself heard standing right next to each other. Like the South falls, you can walk behind these as well. There’s the intrepid scout just about to walk behind.
The trail basically hugs the crease. You do NOT want to venture out towards the falls as there are no guardrails and precious little to stop you if you slip. I love it that there are still public places where you just have to exercise common sense to stay alive rather than be fenced in or kept away.
Here’s a shot from the far side of the falls, back over to where we started. See Loni waving?
We hung around for quite a while, absorbing the sound and fury, but eventually had to climb the thirteen stories back to the top.
Silver Falls was worth the effort, but there’s no need for our morning constitutional tomorrow!
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