Well, we just got back from a trip to Silver Falls. It definitely has a few things going for it. One, it's very close to Portland, less than an hour and a half towing a trailer. Heck, I can't hardly drive across Portland in an hour and a half during rush hour. Two, you can get there without ever going on the main highways. We took 213 to to Silverton, then 214 to Silver Falls. Beautiful farming land, lots of interesting scenery. Three, very nice accomodations. We had spot #6, and it was comfortable, good shade and near the entrance. Water and electric, but no sewer, unfortunately. We found out our grey water tank is good for about 3 showers and some dishwashing. :-). Four, great hiking. The falls have some amazing scenery around them. Not a great amount of water running through in the summer, but the rock cutouts and trails under them are worth the trip. Be prepared for some elevation changes, you had better be in shape to walk 5 miles, sometimes up some serious inclines. The trails were generally wide and well manicured. We arrived around 5 PM and set up camp, which took about ten minutes with the trailer, totally awesome. Broiled some steak on the stove (eh), napped, kicked back and read books. The next morning, Phil and his son Jules (2 yr old) showed up for an afternoon visit. We took off on the short trail to see some falls around Noon, got back around 4 with some aching legs. Ate some PB&J, had some watermelon from our garden, mmm. Rested and read more books, finally got to see Napoleon Dynamite. Grilled some steak on the campfire (yum) and stayed up and watched the night sky for an hour, saw 3 shooting stars! Grilled marshmallows between chocolate cookies for desert. Slept in the next morning, ran back home by Noon. Woohoo! School starts tomorrow. Summer is over!
Silver Falls state park web page
