DESTINATION Generic 995 Photosets
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| partners | | After our morning hike on the McKenzie River Trail, Mitch and I drove over the Santiam Pass toward Salem for a late afternoon hike at Silver Falls State Park, the largest of Oregon's 150+ state parks. The trails in Silver Falls can be a zoo especially on holiday weekends like Easter (never again!). I figured that late on a Monday afternoon would be a less crowded time to hike the Trail of Ten Falls, and it was.
The Trail of Ten Falls (T10F) is a loop hike, consisting of the Canyon Trail and Rim Trail, which took us above, behind and around ten stunning waterfalls. Many of the waterfalls we could actually hike behind which was a unique experience. Silver Creek is shallow and calm compared to the McKenzie River, but the waterfalls of Silver Creek are no less impressive. The Trail of Ten Falls is also designated a National Recreation Trail like the McKenzie River Trail. A park map indicates that the T10F is a 7.2 mile loop, but a sign at the South Falls trail head indicates 8.7 miles. Whichever it is you get a lot of bang for your hike.
The T10F is a lollypop loop with four trailheads to choose from. We lopped some mileage off hike by saving the North Falls and Upper North Falls for our drive out of the park. Those two falls are at the end of the lollypop stick which requires some backtracking when doing the full loop. We covered the other eight waterfalls by starting and ending a clockwise loop at the Stone Circle Trailhead near the historic South Falls Lodge. The T10F is very well maintained and includes several long staircases. All of the waterfalls were impressive except for Twin Falls which was difficult to view from the trail because of a fallen tree. The most impressive of the ten waterfalls were probably South and North Falls, both well over 100' high. Double Falls is the highest waterfall in the park at 178', but the tallest free falling drop is South Falls at 177'.
Although there would not be as much water flowing over the falls in Autumn, I would love to return in the Fall when all the maples are changing color in Sliver Creek Canyon.
...just another crummy day in the Great Northwest! |
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