Hiking to Tamanawas Falls: A Beautiful Oregon Waterfall!

Oregon is home to hundreds of named waterfalls, and Tamanawas Falls is an amazing one! If you’re hiking anywhere near the Columbia River Gorge, you need to add Tamanawas Falls to your list!

Tamanawas Falls is approximately 100 feet tall and 40 feet wide. So while it’s nowhere near the tallest falls in Oregon, it’s still a stunning waterfall.

Today, we’ll be discussing everything you know about hiking to Tamanawas Falls.  From location, to parking and fees, to the hike itself.  So let’s dive in!

Important Links

Forest Service Website

Tamanawas Falls Trail – AllTrails Link

Hiking Backpack Checklist Freebie – Be Prepared on the Trails

Hiking Journal – Never Forget the Details of Your Favorite Hikes Again!

Location

Let’s start with the location of the falls.  Tamanawas Falls is less than 2 hours from Portland, OR, just over 2 hours from Bend, OR, and only 30 minutes from Hood River, OR.  This makes the falls an easy addition to any Oregon road trip.  

The falls are located in Mount Hood National Forest.  And you should know that Tamanawas Falls is a very popular trail.  You’ll want to arrive early to snag a parking spot.

Parking

This leads us to where you’ll be parking to begin your hike.  You’ll be parking at the Tamanawas Falls Trailhead, or you can simply use this link.  This trailhead is about 30 minutes south of the town of Hood River.

The parking lot is fairly small, with only room for about 40 – 50 cars. And again, this is a pretty popular trail.  So if you go on the weekends or during the middle of the day, you might not be getting a parking spot.  

My suggestion is to get there before 8am or after 4pm.  My husband and I parked here around 4pm on a weekday, and there were plenty of open spots.  But this now leads me to the fees.

Fees

Like many popular places, there is a fee to park.  If you are planning on parking at the Tamanawas Falls Trailhead, you’ll be paying a $5 fee.  This is $5 per car, so try to carpool if you can. 

On the other hand, there are 2 passes that give you FREE access to this trailhead. These passes include the America the Beautiful Pass($80) or the Annual Northwest Forest Pass ($30).  

Annual Passes

Both of the above passes are good for 12 months from the date of purchase. However, the Annual Northwest Forest Pass is only good for national forests in Oregon and Washington.  While the America the Beautiful Pass is valid for national forests, national parks, national monuments, etc.  

In short, if you are just planning on adding this hike, but no other national forests or parks, you’ll want to just pay the $5 day use fee.  If you are planning on adding in other popular national parks or forests, you’ll want to add the America the Beautiful Pass.  

But enough about the logistics, let’s get to the hike itself!

Trail Stats: Tamanawas Falls Trail

• Distance: 3.9 miles
• Elevation Gain: 750 feet
• Time on Trail: 2 – 3 hours
• Difficulty: Easy-to-Moderate

Recommendations

The expected time to hike to Tamanawas Falls and back is between 2 – 3 hours depending on your hiking speed.  And how many pictures you stop to take.

For this time and distance, you’ll want to make sure you have some water packed (at least 16oz.) and maybe a small snack.  

You’ll also want to wear bug spray, as the mosquitos were no joke on this trail.  And as for sunscreen, the trail is mostly tree-covered until you reach the waterfall.  So while you should always wear sunscreen, it won’t kill you if you forget it.  

Finally, you’ll want to make sure you have sturdy shoes, or boots, as this hike is rocky.  And as far as clothing goes, be sure to wear/pack layers.  The weather can change in a minute in the Pacific Northwest, so always be prepared.  

Our Itinerary

My husband and I hiked to Tamanawas Falls in July of 2026.  Due to the summer crowds, we opted to hike this trail in the evening.  Plus, we were camping pretty close to the trailhead.  

Our itinerary looked a little like this!

• 4:10 pm: Parked at the Trailhead (used the pit toilets at the trailhead)
• 4:20 pm: Began our hike to Tamanawas Falls
• 5 pm: Arrived at the falls
• 5 – 5:30 pm: Photographed the falls and enjoyed the scenery
• 5:30 pm: Headed back to our truck
• 6:10 pm: Arrived back at our truck and left

Again, this is just an estimate for you.  You may hike faster or slower than us, but I would allow for about 2 hours for this trail.  

Next, let’s take a look at a few details of our hike.

Our Hike

In July of 2026 we parked at the trailhead and headed toward the falls.  There are trail signs all the way to the falls, and the trail was very easy to follow.  

There are a few steep sections of this trail, but overall, it was pretty easy.  The hardest part was how worn down and slippery the rocks were along the trail.  Meaning, if our feet were wet or dirty, there was a good chance we were going to slip and stumble.  This happened a few times.

There are also 2 bridges that we had to use to cross the streams along this trail.  And there was one section that seemed to be covered by an old rockslide, so we had to rock scramble a little bit.  Other than that, this trail was easy peasy.  

Essentially we were just following the stream up towards the waterfall.  We reached the falls right around 1.7ish miles and that’s when we saw the highlight of the trail!

The Highlight (The Falls!)

Tamanawas Falls is about 100 feet tall and 40 feet wide, so it’s a gorgeous waterfall!  We were able to enjoy the falls and feel the mist on our faces as we got closer.

Some people went to the right side of the waterfall and hiked behind the falls.  However, the rocks were very wet and slippery, so we opted not to do this.

Overall, this is an impressive waterfall in Oregon.  No, it’s not the tallest, but it was still very beautiful!

Conclusion

Oftentimes a beautiful waterfall requires hard hiking for hours, but not Tamanawas Falls!  This trail is less than 4 miles and leads you to a beautiful Oregon waterfall. 

Be sure to add Tamanawas Falls to your Oregon roadtrip!

As always, feel free to reach out to me at averagewildexperience@gmail.com and I’ll happily ask any questions you might have.

-Happy Hiking!