Skip to Content

Exploring the Columbia River Gorge

Exploring the Columbia River Gorge

The fall is an absolutely spectacular time to visit the Vancouver/Portland/Columbia River Gorge area – especially when you get a few days without any rain!

Vancouver

Vancouver, WA was very interesting to me because it sits in the shadow of the much more familiar city of Portland. It also gets confusing when people say “Vancouver” and mean Vancouver, British Columbia up in Canada on the northern border of Washington.

You always have to say “Vancouver, Washington” to get people to know where you’re talking about, and even then they’ll probably be confused.  

Fort Vancouver & Pearson Air Museum

 We checked out Fort Vancouver and the Pearson Air Museum, which have a very important history in the settling of the Columbia River Gorge and the advancement of flight.  

Columbia River Gorge

This famous river gorge is where the mighty Columbia River carved a canyon up to 4,000 feet in some places. It stretches for more than 80 miles, and is formally protected as a National Scenic Area.

The fall colors were amazing! Because of the recent torrential rains, all the waterfalls were raging!

columbia river gorge scenic drive

Latourell Falls – 250ft

Latourell Falls. Doesn’t look so big, does it? Look at the second image. That’s Tom with his arms outstretched near the bast of the falls!

latuourell falls, columbia river gorge, mortons on the move dogs

Bridal Veil Falls – 120ft

Multnomah Falls – 620ft

This waterfall is probably the most famous waterfall on the Columbia River Gorge, and possibly one of the most famous in the country. Multnomah Falls was magical!

multnomah falls in columbia river gorge

Columbia River Gorge Vlog:

Day Trip up the Columbia River Gorge with the Mortons | MOTM VLOG 77

Bonneville Fish Hatchery

A little further down the road, we happened upon the Bonneville Fish Hatchery. (We were trying to go to the Bonneville Dam, but their visitor’s center closed just as we arrived.)

It was a great serendipitous adventure though, because we got to see sturgeon!

bonneville fish hatchery
sturgeon at bonneville fish hatchery

Columbia River Gorge – Take 2!

One short visit to the Columbia River Gorge simply wasn’t enough. The next summer we came back to this magnificent area to do more exploration, visit the Bonneville Dam like we attempted, and check out the Washington side of the gorge.

Click here to learn about more awesome adventures in Oregon!

mt hood from portland

Travel Stage: Visiting family in Vancouver, WA – just across the Columbia River from Portland
Date Range: October 19 – 23, 2016

Become A Mortons On The Move Insider

Join 10,000+ other adventurers to receive educating, entertaining, and inspiring articles about RV Travel Destinations, RV Gear, and Off-Grid Living to jump-start your adventures today!

Read More from the Mortons:

About Mortons on the Move

Tom & Caitlin Morton of Mortons on the Move gave up the stationary life for one where they are constantly on the move. They are full-time travelers, television hosts, and digital media producers.
They left their jobs, sold their house and possessions, and hit the road in September 2015 in their full-time “home on wheels”. Since then they have traveled the US, Canada, and even internationally by RV.
Now, they are Discovery Channel & PBS TV Co-stars of “Go North” on Amazon Prime Video, co-founders and instructors of RV Masterclass, and contributing authors for Hwy.co and an Arizona travel guide.

About Us

Sharing is caring!