If you are staying somewhere near downtown Portland, Multnomah Falls is an easy getaway outside the city. Going during the off season is less crowded and probably easier to drive to. But if you opt to go during summer, which is what most people do, driving is discouraged. You can read about the requirements here, but basically you’ll need to reserve a time and pay to drive into the park.
However, you can visit Multnomah Falls hassle free without a car, and personally, I think they makes it very easy to get there car-free. First thing is if you visit Multnomah Falls in the summer without a car, you won’t need to reserve a time or deal with traffic. Just show up!
So here’s what I did to visit Multnonah Falls car-free and hassle free.
Take the Columbia Gorge Express shuttle.
You can either pre-purchase the ticket online or show up and pay the driver. It’s $10 one-way but you’ll need to have exact change. The Columbia Gorge Express is part of the Columbia Area Transit (CAT). The shuttle departs from the Gateway Transit Center. Take the MAX light rail to Gateway Transit Center. All train lines, whether red, blue or green will pass through Gateway Transit Center which makes waiting for a train really quick. The MAX is $2.80 a trip and you can pay for it if you have a contactless debit/credit card by tapping it on the Hop reader at the station platform. Otherwise, you can buy a paper ticket from the ticket machines also found at each platform station. You can also drive and park at the stations well.
Once on the shuttle it’s about a 30min drive to the falls. But that also depends if the schedule you select makes a stop in Troutdale. I scheduled an 8:50am time and the shuttle went directly from the Gateway Transit Center to Multnomah Falls without a stop in between. Make sure you ask the bus driver to give you a sticker that allows you to enter the falls. The one I got says “I ❤️ Multnomah Falls".
Hiking up to the falls
It’s about 1 mi from the base to the top observation deck of the falls. Lots of people from kids to senior citizens were doing it, but there’s a stretch of the hike along the side of the mountain that is very narrow, no rail guards and the path is crumbling. I’m not sure if they’ll be fixing that any time soon, but just a word of caution if you plan to hike up to the top. The hike consists of a lot of switchbacks with breathtaking views of the Columbia River. The photos I have don’t compare to seeing it in person.
Once the trail winds into the mountain, there will be a split where if you make a U-turn it’ll take you to the observation deck. If you go straight it'll take you to the Dutchman Falls. I walked to both the Dutchman Falls and the observation deck above the Multnomah Falls. Hiking up probably took me about 1 1/2 hrs or so.
After the hike, I browsed through the gift shop for a bit and then hopped back on the CAT shuttle back to Gateway Transit Center. I feel there are enough shuttles throughout the day that made this an easy trip. I would highly recommend going car-free to visit the Multnomah Falls in the summer.
Below are some photos of the hike.
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