About 90 minutes south of Portland, Oregon is Abiqua Falls which is a stunning waterfall. The waterfall features a unique geological formation that is truly a sight to be seen.
In this post I’ll be going over the drive and hike to Abiqua Falls.
The Drive to the Trailhead
One important thing to know before visiting Abiqua Falls is the drive to the trailhead is a 2 mile rocky road. If you follow directions to the trailhead via Google Maps you’ll be taken to a large dirt parking lot that just about any car can get to. From the dirt parking lot you can choose to drive down the more rugged road to go right to the trailhead or make the 2 mile walk downhill to the trailhead.
The more rugged area to the trailhead wasn’t too bad, especially in my Subaru outback. If you don’t have high clearance or AWD/4WD I would recommend just staying at the parking lot on top of the hill and walking down. There are 3-4 large dips in the road you have to traverse on the way down. I will note there are a few pull offs on this rugged part of the road in case you don’t think you can make it more and want to park.
Just be careful on the drive on the rugged section since you’re likely to see people walking up/down the road.
Now that I’ve given some background on the drive to the trailhead let’s dive into the hike!
Hiking to Abiqua Falls
Alltrails notes the Abiqua Falls as moderate but I would consider it hard. The 250 feet of elevation gain is done via a pretty steep grade at the start of the hike which I wouldn’t recommend attempting if it’s been raining since mud would make it difficult to traverse down.
The hike is also noted as 0.7 miles on Alltrails but from my visit after walking around the falls a bit it was a total of 1.3 miles. Just keep this in mind, especially if you don’t have a car that can go down to the trailhead you’ll add on 4+ miles to walk out & back on the road.
Once you’re down the rope section the trail takes you along a creek which is fairly flat. You will have to duck and traverse around a few downed trees but it was a bit easier once you’re at the creek.
Abiqua Falls
Of course arriving at Abiqua Falls makes the entire trip worth it. The beautiful waterfall with stunning rock formations on the sides is quite the sight.
There are plenty of large rocks to relax on and unique angles you can photograph the falls from.
People were also swimming in the water on our visit. Overall just a relaxing place especially after the journey down.
Abiqua Falls Photos
Here are more pictures from my trip to Abiqua Falls in Oregon.
