Latourell Falls

If you're passing

Is it plungeworthy?

—feet tall

A plunge on Latourell Creek.

Scale12/60

Documentation15/20

Character14/20

The details

Type: Plunge
Watercourse: Latourell Creek
Coordinates: 45.53691, -122.21807

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About Latourell Falls

Latourell Falls is a plunge in Oregon, on Latourell Creek.

Fed largely by snowmelt, it runs hardest in late spring and early summer and can thin to a trickle by late season.

Plungeworthy rates Latourell Falls 4.1/10 — if you're passing. The score weighs its scale, how confidently it's mapped, and its character.

What you'll find

Latourell Falls drops about 224 feet in one clean freefall off an overhanging wall of columnar basalt — the closest major falls to Portland and the only big Gorge plunge that never touches the rock on the way down. The cliff blazes with yellow-green lichen around the amphitheater.

A paved path reaches the lower viewpoint in minutes; the loop climbs to 134-foot Upper Latourell for the full tour.

Getting there

Trailhead: Latourell Falls Trailhead, Guy W. Talbot State Park, on the Historic Columbia River Highway
Parking: Small paved lot at the picnic area; fills fast on weekends
Road: Paved
Hike: 2.2 mi round trip, 606 ft of climb (moderate)
Heads up: Lower viewpoint is a flat few hundred feet — bring anyone. The full loop packs most of its climb into the first half mile and gets muddy in the wet.

When to go

Fall through spring is the show — it's a runoff-fed falls that thins by late summer. The highway and lot stay open in winter, with ice the main caveat.

It's the first stop on the Waterfall Corridor, so the lower viewpoint draws crowds; the upper loop sheds them within ten minutes.

Rules & fees

Fee / pass: Oregon State Parks day-use parking, new as of March 30, 2026: $10/day resident, $12 out-of-state; annual $60/$75
Dogs: Leashed
Camping: Ainsworth State Park Campground, ~10 miles east, mid-March through October
Warnings: West end of the corridor escaped the December 2025 storm damage that closed trails further east, but Gorge rules kept shifting through 2026 — glance at state-park alerts before you go.

Researched from Oregon State Parks — Guy W. Talbot / Latourell · Oregon Hikers — Latourell Falls Loop. Conditions change — verify before you drive. Been to Latourell Falls recently? Post a conditions report below.

Where it is

Before you go

The pin marks the feature, not a trailhead or a legal route in. Some sit on private land or need a real hike, and conditions change with season and rain. Check local access, don't trespass, and never enter water — hot or cold — where it isn't safe.