12 Best Oregon Waterfall Hikes That’ll Take Your Breath Away

I want to share with you 12 of the best Oregon waterfall hikes I’ve personally found across this state. While there are likely dozens more, the truth is that these particular ones get the best ratings and highest recommendations (not just from myself).

Here are the 12 best Oregon waterfall hikes:

1. Multnomah Falls.
2. Toketee Falls.
3. Latourell Falls.
4. Tunnel Falls.
5. Lower Oneonta Falls.
6. Shellburg Falls.
7. Watson Falls.
8. Tumalo Falls.
9. White River Falls.
10. Abiqua Falls.
11. Trail of Ten Falls.
12. Paulina Creek Falls.

Note (exploring Oregon waterfalls in the winter):

The good news is that the majority of the list above is totally available to explore in the winter and most of them turn into a winter wonderland as you can see here: Do exercise caution as some of the hikes do require you to travel deep into certain areas and with the added snow and ice, plus other winter conditions, it can present a bit of danger. 

1) Multnomah Falls:

• Waterfall height: 600+ feet
• Location: Columbia River Gorge
• Length of hike: Approx 200 feet
• Difficulty: Easy–moderate

Let me get the most popular one out of the way first and that’s Multnomah Falls Oregon. Not only is it the tallest waterfall in the state, but it’s also one of the easiest hikes as there is a parking only a few 100 feet away from it. You can easily just walk up to this waterfall. There is another hike beyond that area where you can go up 1-2 miles to reach the top (and see a few other waterfalls too there).

2) Toketee Falls:

• Waterfall height: 80 feet
• Location: Douglas County, Oregon
• Length of hike to the waterfall: 0.5 miles
• Difficulty: Easy–moderate

Of the top waterfalls and subsequent hikes to explore in the state, Toketee Falls Oregon is easily in the top 3 (for most people). It’s a 2 layer waterfall, one that’s 40-50 feet high on the upper end and the lower one (the most photogenic one) that’s 80+ feet high. You can hike to an upper level platform to see it, but then also hike down a very slippery and muddy off trail to get to the bottom too.

3) Latourell Falls:

• Waterfall height: 200+ feet
• Location: Latourell Falls State Park
• Length of hike to the waterfall: 200 feet
• Difficulty: Easy

Latourell Falls is another extremely scenic waterfall hike in Oregon that is very close to the parking area (like Multonomah Falls). One of it’s key features besides being very tall is that you can easily hike right to it if you want and also see a combination of beautiful yellow and green moss. 

4) Tunnel Falls:

• Waterfall height: 170+ feet
• Location: Columbia River Gorge
• Length of hike to the waterfall: 6.5 miles
• Difficulty: Hard

Tunnel Falls is part of a hike called Eagle Creek Trail and while you’re on it, you will actually see a bunch of other beautiful waterfalls. In my opinion out of all of them, Tunnel Falls is the most beautiful and it’s worth taking the 6+ mile trip one way to get there. Once you do, you can walk underneath the tunnel to see the different angles of the waterfall before turning back.

5) Lower Oneonta Falls:

• Waterfall height: 90 feet
• Location: Columbia River Gorge
• Length of hike to the waterfall: 0.3 miles
• Difficulty: Easy

While this is one of the skinniest and shortest waterfalls on the list, it’s also in one of the most scenic Oregon waterfall hikes in my personal opinion. With this trail, what you have is a gorge hike that you walk through in water to reach the waterfall itself. Now it’s important to know that this hike has been mostly closed for the past few years due to fire damage and there is an alternative trail to Oneonta Gorge you can take which goes over the top. While it’s not going to give you great views of this waterfall, the hike itself is amazing (about 2 miles) and there are also a few other waterfalls on that path. However if you can manage to visit this area when Oneonta Gorge is open, then you absolutely need to do this hike! For me I’ve tried 5 times to make it happen but it’s always been closed.

6) Shellburg Falls:

• Waterfall height: 100+ feet
• Location: Santiam State Forest
• Length of hike to the waterfall: 2 miles
• Difficulty: Easy

This is another beautiful waterfall hike that is awesome for beginners and when you reach the falls, you can hike under it to get incredible views. One thing to know is that there will be some gravel road driving required to reach the Shellburg trailhead and one more important note is that as of 2023 however, this trail has also been closed but you can look at the Alltrails listing here to see when it opens.

7) Watson Falls:

• Waterfall height: Nearly 300 feet
• Location: Douglas County in Umpqua National Forest
• Length of hike to the waterfall: 0.2 miles 
• Difficulty: Easy

I’ve hiked to Watson Falls and I was very impressed with how easy the hike was in terms of length and convenience (there is a boardwalk area and easy to follow trail) as well as how beautiful the waterfall itself was. Another awesome thing to note is that this is also close to Toketee Falls so you can get in 2 great Oregon waterfall hikes in a short period. 

8) Tumalo Falls:

• Waterfall height: 95 feet
• Location: Deschutes National Forest
• Length of hike to the waterfall: 6 miles
• Difficulty: Moderate–hard

Tumalo Falls in my opinion is only worth visiting if you’re driving nearby, like in the town of Bend. It’s probably the only giant waterfall on this list that’s “out in the open” and that might be scenery you’re looking for. The other waterfalls on this list are a bit more deep in the woods, which I personally prefer, but this one is still very beautiful and it actually bears a bit of resemblance to 2 other major waterfalls north of it:

• One is in Yellowstone National Park.
• The other is in the Canadian Rockies.

9) White River Falls:

• Waterfall height: 90+ feet (2 waterfalls)
• Location: White River Falls State Park
• Length of hike to the waterfall: 0.1 miles
• Difficulty: Easy

Out of all the waterfall hikes on this list, White River Falls is the easiest and shortest to reach. At the same time, some might find this particular waterfall to be the most beautiful Oregon waterfalls and there’s many reasons to assume that. It’s a cascading 2 layer waterfall, which breaks up in multiple areas vs being 1 stream and is a sight to behold.

10) Abiqua Falls:

• Waterfall height: 120 feet
• Location: Close to the town of Scott Mills
• Length of hike to the waterfall: 0.3 miles
• Difficulty: Moderate

Abiqua Falls in many ways looks like a copy of Toketee Falls but the region and hike to get there is totally different. At the same time, this is one of the beautiful, yet least explored Oregon waterfall hikes you’ll find. The only 2 difficulties of reaching it are:

1. A bumpy drive to the trailhead which you can avoid, but then you will need to hike further down to reach the trailhead.
2. A short, but extremely slippery trail to the river which you follow up to reach the waterfall.

11) Trail of Ten Falls:

• Waterfall heights: 100+ feet for most of them
• Location: Silver Falls State Park
• Length of the hike: 9 mile loop
• Difficulty: Moderate

Nothing encompasses Oregon waterfall hikes like the Trail of Ten Falls. What you have here is 1 trail with 10 waterfalls on it and every waterfall is pretty amazing. Some of them (like the one in the picture above) has a cave underneath it. Others have the ability to walk down to the base of it, while others can be seen from the top. This is a very easy to follow trail but what makes it moderate is the length. But overall it is very scenic, family friendly and highly recommended.

12) Paulina Creek Falls:

• Waterfall heights: 50+ feet
• Location: Newberry Volcano
• Length of hike: 3 miles
• Difficulty: Easy

Within the area of Newberry Volcano there is a popular waterfall hiking trail that connects 3 different waterfalls together. One of them is Paulina Creek Falls which is the most popular and scenic. The other 2 are also nice and an extra bonus while you get to the main one. 

Related:

• Best places to visit on the Oregon Coast
• Best things to do in Eastern Oregon
• Best Oregon scenic drives