![]() ![]() ![]() I was pleasantly surprised when they first came into view. For some reason the pictures I’d seen had left me with the impression that the falls were smaller than what they turned out to be. I admit to not expecting much from the falls themselves. ![]() The air had the unmistakable feel of waterfall, cool and containing a hint of moisture. As we made our way up the trail a faint breeze met us. We felt the falls before we could see them. We also had brought along some traction devices for our shoes which Heather used in this section on the way back. The snow had been packed down to ice in sections and we were glad to have had our trekking poles with us. We would be taking the tie trail on our return trip but first we headed into the rock field and onto the slickest portions of trail we’d encountered. The Tamanawas Falls Trail continued straight ahead at the fork, passing through a rock field while the Tamanawas Tie Trail headed uphill to the right. We then followed the trail up along picturesque Cold Spring Creek for almost a mile to a trail fork. We were now heading downhill toward Cold Spring Creek and another footbridge. 6 miles we reached the signed trail junction and turned left on the Tamanawas Falls Trail. The trail climbed a bit and was still covered in snow in sections.Īfter. We were headed north on the East Fork Trail toward a junction with the Tamanawas Falls Trail. It was a crisp 37 when we arrived and the remaining snow was packed and a little slick on the way down to a footbridge across the East Fork Hood River.įrom the bridge a small waterfall cascaded down into the river and a pair of Harlequin Ducks paddled about along the far bank. We arrived at the Tamanawas Falls Trailhead just before 7am (our other trick for avoiding crowds) on what promised to be a beautiful mostly sunny day. ![]() We decided that early Spring might be our best bet when the wildflowers had begun blooming in the Columbia Gorge and there would still be some snow along the Tamanawas Falls Trail. The hike to Tamanawas Falls is very popular given its shorter length and its location along Highway 35 on the east side of Mt. Now that the we had a plan that fit this hike into our hike-to-drive ratio requirement we needed to figure out when to visit. We just needed some extra distance on a trail though so this would give us the ability to hike south at least a mile or two and increase our hiking time enough to top our driving time. It continues as far south as the Nottingham Campground but there is no bridge at that point making it the unceremonious end of the trail. This trail incurred heavy damage during a flood event and no longer ties into the Robin Hood Campground to the south. While rereading the description in the book and reviewing the accompanying map I found the solution which was to extend the hike along the East Fork Trail southward. At a little over two hours away the 3.8 mile round trip was too short and an alternate return route suggested by Sullivan would only extend the hike to 5.9 miles which was still likely too short to balance out the driving time. At first glance the hike to Tamanawas Falls fell into this category for us. One of the difficulties is that some of the hike distances are such that the amount of time we would spend on the trail is quite a bit less than the amount of time we’d spend driving to and from the trailhead. One of the things that I have been working on during our current off-hiking season is figuring out how to accomplish this. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes” series of guide books. It is our goal to eventually visit each of the featured hikes in William L. ![]()
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