Most Beautiful Day Hikes in Portland

Portland Area, Oregon

If you LOVE the color green, Oregon is the place for you - it feels like one big lush jungle with a thick moss carpet. This guide provides some general travel tips for visiting Oregon and a list of the most beautiful day hikes in the Portland area.

General Travel Tips

• Book your hotels or camping for Oregon at least a few months in advance of visiting - they book up quickly and there are very limited options in some areas.

• As some destinations below have little to no cell reception, download offline maps for both driving to the hikes and for the hikes themselves. We've provided detailed instructions on how to do this in the Google Maps and All Trails apps HERE.

• Many of the sites below will require that you have a Northwest Forest Pass displayed in your vehicle when parked at the various trailheads. An annual Northwest Forest pass is honored at all Forest Service day-use or entrance fee sites in Washington and Oregon and can be purchased HERE.

• The rocks around the waterfalls are super slippery, so if you plan to explore the areas immediately in front of and around the waterfalls, bring grippy water shoes. With that said, we do not recommend hiking to the waterfalls listed below in water shoes.

• Prior to your trip, double check that there aren’t any active wildfires along the route described below.

• At the time of this writing (July 2021), some great hikes in the Portland area were closed due to damage from wildfires, but it would be well worth your effort to research if and when they’ll reopen: Oneonta Gorge and Elowah Falls.

Most Beautiful Day Hikes

Panther Creek Falls (1hr 30min drive from Portland): 0.3 mile roundtrip hike, 121 feet of elevation gain. Make sure to use the All Trails offline map for this location when finding the parking lot for Panther Creek Falls - instructions on how to download offline maps are in the general travel tips section at the top of this page. Google maps might get you close but won't lead you to the exact location of the parking area. The parking area will be the largest parking area on your right near the end of the Google Maps directions. While this hike isn’t technically in Oregon, we included it here because it’s so close to Oregon and because its too beautiful to miss out on.

Multnomah Falls (32min drive from Portland): 2.4 mile roundtrip hike, 810 feet of elevation gain. This location will be crowded, so it would be a good idea to visit early in the day.

Latourell Falls (32min drive from Portland): 0.2 mile roundtrip hike, 6 feet of elevation gain.

Punchbowl and Tunnel Falls via the Eagle Creek Trail (40min drive from Portland): 12 mile roundtrip hike, 1640 feet of elevation gain. Be warned, if you’re afraid of heights, this hike may not be for you. The trail becomes very narrow in some spots, right along very steep drop offs – not a place you’d want to trip. There’s also not much shade along this trail, so make sure to bring plenty of water. To be able to reach Punchbowl falls, you’ll have to swim, so it would be a good idea to wear a swimsuit and to bring water shoes with you. Be sure to watch for rocks underwater - they can be difficult to see so you'll have to feel your way around a bit in the water while swimming. If you hike less than a quarter mile past Tunnel Falls, you’ll also reach Twister Falls and a small swimming hole that’s a great spot to take a dip in the water to cool off - just know that this water is ice cold!

Ramona Falls (1hr 10min drive from Portland): 7.1 mile roundtrip hike, 1,066 feet of elevation gain. On this hike, you’ll cross the Sandy River (read the signs there on how to safely cross a river), and even get a quick view of Mt. Hood along the way to the falls. If you’d like a more shaded and scenic hike, take a left when you reach the first fork in the trail.

Tamanawas Falls (1hr 40min drive from Portland): 3.4 mile roundtrip hike, 580 feet of elevation gain.

Abiqua Falls (1hr 10min drive from Portland): 0.7 mile roundtrip hike, 249 feet of elevation gain. Be sure to download offline maps for both driving directions and the hiking trail (see directions on how to do this in the general travel tips section at the top of this page). The last turn you’ll take when driving is a right onto road CF300 which is about 2.5 miles long and end’s at a white gate - this is the small parking area for the hike. However, about 1.5 miles down the road, there are some deep bumpy parts of the road that only a high clearance vehicle can navigate, so it would be a good idea to park your car at or before the 1.5 mile mark if you don’t have this type of vehicle. The trail starts before the white gate and if you follow the All Trails offline map, you’ll be fine. A pair of gloves would also be helpful to have with you because at one point, you’ll have to use ropes that people have setup to make your way down the steep parts of the trail.

Trail of Ten Falls, Silver Falls State Park (1hr 10min drive from Portland): 7.4 mile roundtrip hike, 1,210 feet of elevation gain. The most beautiful falls to visit along this trail are Lower South Falls, Middle North Falls, and North Falls. We recommend parking early in the morning at the parking Lot near North Falls and then hiking to North and Middle North Falls - this parking lot become full quickly so its best to get here first thing in the morning. After seeing both of these falls, we then recommend driving to/parking at South Falls and hiking to Lower South Falls. As this is a state park, the Northwest Forest Pass is not accepted here, so be sure to pay for parking at a kiosk and put the receipt on the dashboard of your car.