Silver Falls

South Falls at Silver Falls State Park

  • Easy (to Lower South Falls)
  • 2.8-mile loop
  • 300 feet elevation gain
  • Open all year


  • Easy (to Middle North Falls)
  • 5.2-mile loop
  • 400 feet elevation gain


  • Moderate (to North Falls)
  • 7.1-mile loop
  • 600 feet elevation gain

These popular loops through the forested canyons of Silver Falls State Park visit ten spectacular waterfalls, five more than 100 feet high. Several paths even lead through mossy caverns behind the falls’ shimmering silver curtains.

The park is usually hikable even in winter, but it’s perhaps at its prettiest in spring, when wildflowers are blooming and the falls are roaring. Note that a special $5 parking fee is charged throughout the park, and that dogs are not allowed on the canyon trails.

If you’re coming from the south, take Interstate 5 to …

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Crowds are thinner if you start …

This chapter is an excerpt from 100 Hikes/Travel Guide: Central Oregon Cascades.