Columbia River Gorge Waterfalls & Mt Hood Tour from Portland, OR
Description
Follow the path of an ancient riverbed, carved by the last Ice Age, past the Bridge of the Gods, and explore the Windsurfing Capital of the World. In the afternoon, traverse Oregon’s fertile fruit valley on the way to the alpine top of a volcano, which boasts a title as the world’s 2nd most summited mountain in the world. Come along on this whirlwind journey to experience a selection of Oregon’s wonders.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Our central meeting location and pick up point! A beautiful, urban park in the middle of Downtown Portland.
We will depart downtown Portland and head east along the Columbia River to Troutdale, known as the Gateway to the Gorge! We will join the beautiful Historic Columbia River Highway, the first planned scenic roadway in the United States.
Our first stop for the day: Crown Point Vista House. This famous overlook sits 733 feet above the Columbia River, atop the remains of a lava flow that swept through the Gorge around 14 to 17 million years ago! Here, we will find amazing 180-degree views of the Columbia River Gorge and explore the Vista House. An intricately designed observatory and museum, the Vista House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
From the Vista House, we will drive deeper into the Columbia River National Scenic Area. Our first waterfall for the day will be the dramatic Latourell Falls which plunges 249 feet over a massive wall of columnar basalt. Depending on the season, a short ¼-mile trail hike will be led to get a closer view of the falls.
The next waterfall we will visit will be the famed Multnomah Falls. Plummeting 620 feet in two major steps, Multnomah Falls is the highest waterfall in Oregon and second highest in the nation! Here, we can explore the Multnomah Falls Historic Lodge (a Cascadian style stone and timber lodge built in 1925) as well as the beautiful Multnomah Falls itself. The easily accessible viewing platform offers a full view of the Benson Bridge and cascading falls beyond it.
We will make our way to Hood River, known as the Windsurfing Capitol of the World, where we will pause for an hour for everybody to disperse for free time. This gives us a chance to explore the town and get lunch.
Following lunch, we will set out heading south, through the picturesque Fruit Loop orchards and lavender farms. If time permits, we may even make a brief stop at one of the farm stands before beginning our scenic drive through Mount Hood National Forest!
While enjoying a scenic drive through Mount Hood National Forest, we'll have many opportunities to view Mount Hood before our final stop right on the mountain at Timberline Lodge.
For our last stop of the day, we will wind our way through Mount Hood National Forest, climbing to roughly 6,000 feet in elevation, to Timberline Lodge. This National Historic Landmark sits proudly against Oregon’s highest peak- Mt. Hood! Attracting over 10,000 climbers each year, Mt. Hood is a mammoth to behold. We’ll have the opportunity to explore inside the lodge and enjoy the surrounding Cascade Mountain Range views from the lodge’s outdoor patios. If time allows, a short hike to the Pacific Crest Trail crossing just behind the lodge can be led by your guide.
After a full day out on tour, we end back at Director Park, our drop off location in the heart of Downtown Portland.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- A maximum of 12 people per booking
- Dress in layers as you travel though varied climates
Reviews(631)
This tour was such an enjoyable experience. The waterfalls and Mount Hood were breathtaking. The guide, Sean Connolly, was so fun and informative. He made the experience great. I loved his ecology fun facts and he even offered to take pics of everyone.
We had Sean as our tour guide and had an absolutely wonderful time. He engaged with us, learned everyone’s names and where they were from, and was incredibly welcoming. He was an excellent driver, and kept us safe and timely. The best part was his expansive knowledge. I’ve done the waterfall tour + hood river valley experience before, but it was exponentially better with the deep historical and geological insights from Sean. 10/10!
The entire experience was amazing. Daniel shared such interesting dialogue the entire trip. He is a wealth of knowledge, and made the trip a 10/10!
Time at each stop is a little short. But that's the nature of a tour this extensive. The views were gorgeous and Daniel was wonderful. Very knowledgeable. He also had plenty of recommendations for all sorts of things in Portland which was the best!
Knowledgeable, clear, fun, and enthusiastic guide! Daniel is a kind-hearted and responsible person..
Outstanding tour! We were worried it would be too long of a day but there were plenty of stops to get us out of the van and enjoy the amazing scenery. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and engaging. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
This was a fantastic trip with plenty to see and lots of short stops included to look, take photos and a quick leg stretch. Patrick is a very knowledgeable guide about so many different things and was happy to answer questions.
This was, by far, one of the best tours we have ever been on. Patrick was amazing and made the trip very memorable.
This was an excellent experience!! Our guide and driver was Sean, and he was chock full of interesting facts about what we were seeing. He never rushed us, and we felt that we spent a good amount of time in every place. Granted, we did run over schedule, but he did check with the group to see if we had a need to get back to the city within a certain timeframe. I’ve done a lot of tours in my time, and I’d place this one up there with the best. This company and Sean clearly know what they’re doing and set a really high bar. Would highly recommend to all!
It was awesome, Chuck our driver was great, great views, great stops, loved it, recommend it, go for it,
