Silver Falls State Park: Trail of Ten Falls

On our way back to Bend from our recent trip to go to the farmers market in McMinnville, we decided to stop at Silver Falls State Park, a place that we have always been meaning to visit, but which we had not. It made good sense to go there on a trip to the Willamette Valley because the park is situated just off OR 22, the road that we take back and forth to Bend.

Once we got off OR 22 between I-5 and Stayton, we were in farm country, with miles and miles of grass seed farms, hayfields interspersed with glorious radish seed fields blooming white, and the ditches full of wildflowers including flax, oxeye daisies, penstemons, digitalis, St. John's Wort, and so forth. Leaving the valley floor of about 180 feet, we climbed to about 1600 feet before descending to the park entrance about 1300 feet. 

On arriving at 10:45, we were able to pull into the parking lot and had our choice of spots in the shade in the vast parking lot. I pulled in under a shady Big Leaf Maple, one of the key trees of the Willamette Valley and a reminder that we were still on the wet west side of the Cascades.

Ann and I set out on a clockwise circuit of the Trail of Ten Falls, 7.7 miles in all according to the guide who gave me a paper map of the trail. We started out on the Canyon Trail and planned to come back the Rim Trail, but Ann wasn't feeling well. She bailed out on the Maple Ridge Trail to the car just after Lower South Falls, while I continued on. I did not feel right in taking the long way around and deserting Ann for so long, so I too bailed out on the Winter Trail after seeing 7 of the 10 falls and skipping Twin Falls, North Falls, and Upper North Falls.

I made the additional 4-mile circuit after Ann left me in just about an hour, including time to take photographs, so I was really hauling, easy enough to do because there really isn't that much elevation gain aside from climbing out of the gorge. The brochure talks about the trail being steep, but I think their idea of steep is dumbed down for out-of-shape tourists, scores of which I encountered on my walk.

I took so many photos that I need to split this into two posts to keep the size down. This first post is of the various waterfalls. The subsequent post will be of the abundant wildflowers and flora of the park.

177-Foot South Falls

Ann Took This Photo of Rosy Plectritis, Plectritis congesta
in Front of South Falls

Behind South Falls
If Ann Has to Duck, What About 6'-4" Ed?

Foliage Under the Cliff, Behind the Falls

Refraction on Ann's iPhone Lens

93-Foot Lower South Falls

Ann Returned to the Car After This Fall

30-Foot Lower North Falls

Atop Lower North Falls

178-Foot Double Falls, Off a Short Spur Trail

Oregon Sunshine, Eriophyllum lanatum, Above 27-Foot Drake Falls

106-Foot Middle North Falls

Rainbow from Behind Middle North Falls

Headed Back to Car, 134-Foot Winter Falls

After Winter Falls, I climbed a couple of switchbacks to the canyon rim and then took the Rim Trail back to the car. While on arrival, we had choices of parking spaces, on returning to the packed parking lot, it looked like someone had kicked over an anthill. Hundreds of people including several busloads of screaming children were running all over the place.

Wanting to get away from the madness, I quickly bolted my sandwich and we left, our somewhat peaceful morning shattered by hordes of loud invaders. I noticed on the trail that many of the visitors are foreigners, mostly Asian, to whom our concepts of trail etiquette are alien. I could tolerate the crowds to see the falls once, but unless I go in the dead of winter when the park is largely deserted, I don't think I will go back to this park that they call the crown jewel of Oregon parks.