Horsetail Falls
From Portland Hikers Field Guide
- Hikes including this destination:
- Ponytail Falls Hike (TH | <-- --> | LOG)
- Horsetail Falls Loop Hike (TH | <-- --> | LOG)
- Rock of Ages Loop Hike (TH | <-- --> | LOG)
- Latitude: 45.58869
- Longitude: -122.06821
- Maps: Portland Hikers Maps Google Earth
- Elevation: 20 feet
- Height: 176 feet
- Creek: Horsetail Creek
- Extra info: Wintertime photos
Contents |
Description
Horsetail Falls is one of the most scenic points right along the Historic Columbia River Highway, making it a popular spot for tourists and sightseers. Just 34 miles east of Portland, the falls drop 176' in a single horsetail formation into a roadside pool. It's common for spray from the falls to blow over the highway and onto passing cars. It's also very common to find a patch of ice on the road and trees in the winter months.
Construction of the Columbia River Highway began in the spring of 1913 - at the time considered a great engineering feat. Chief engineer, Samuel C. Lancaster, put a priority on providing easy access to areas like Horsetails Falls, but not at the cost of disgracing "what God had put there".
The highway made Horsetail Falls a significant tourist attraction, being the subject of photographs and postcards dating back to the early 1920s. It remains a popular location to this day.
Trip Reports
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Guidebooks that cover this destination
- Day Hike! Columbia Gorge, by Seabury Blair, Jr.
- Afoot and Afield Portland/Vancouver, by Douglas Lorain
- 35 Hiking Trails, Columbia River Gorge, by Don & Roberta Lowe
- Columbia River Gorge, 42 Scenic Hikes, by Don & Roberta Lowe
- Hiking the Columbia River Gorge - 1st and 2nd Editions, by Russ Schneider
- 100 Hikes in Northwest Oregon - 3rd Edition, by William L Sullivan
More Links
- English River Site (Pictorial history of Horsetail Falls)
Contributors
- Stevefromdodge (creator)
- Jeffstatt