Silver Falls State Park

Silver Falls State Park is a state park in the Oregon about 20 miles east-southeast of Salem. It is the largest state park in Oregon with an area of more than 9,000 acres, and it includes more than 24 miles  of hiking trails. Its 9-mile ‘Trail of Ten Falls’ runs along the banks of Silver Creek and by ten waterfalls. Four of the ten falls have an amphitheater-like surrounding that allows the trail to pass behind the flow of the falls.

I can’t say I was much in the mood for a 9-mile hike, so I took the shortcut to cut off 3 waterfalls and 4 miles of hiking out of my day. I started at South Falls (177ft) passed Lower South Falls (93ft),  Lower North Falls (30ft), Double Falls (178ft), Drake Falls (27ft), Middle North Falls (106ft), and ended my hike at Winter Falls (134ft). What is there to say? Waterfalls are cool to photograph (as long as you have a tripod), and to have 10 (!) at your disposal in a single hike is just amazing.

My camera suffered from a fogged up lens as the moisture in the air was thick. The river runs inside a deep canyon that the sun does not get too until high-noon, so the cold and humidity really stick around. While the camera needed constant maintenance, I needed a change of clothes after the 3 hour hike.