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