Ramona Falls lays within the heart of Mount Hood National Forest and is one of the popular hikes among families. It is about an hour East of Portland. The hike itself is around 2.5 miles long round loop trail and suitable for everyone. The elevation gain is around 650ft.
There are many water falls in Mount Hood National Forest, but Ramona Falls is one of the most well known one and the most popular one. To get to Ramona Falls, you have to get pass Zig Zag River road and make a left turn on HWY 26. Then you will drive for few minutes and drive onto gravel road. Pay extra attention when driving on the gravel road since there is a lot of pot holes everywhere. There are other small roads that lead to the camp ground, but it should be easy enough to follow the sign that lead you to Ramona Falls trail head. The parking lot at trail head is quite large, thus you don't have to worry about having a space to park your car. This trail head also requires you to pay 5 dollars, or you can get NW Forest Pass.
The beginning of the trail goes along Sandy River and then the trail goes in and out of forest. At the half way mark of the trail, the trail crosses Sandy River and you can see Mount Hood from here. Along the hiking trails, you would often see horse riders. If you see horses gaining up on you, just step aside and let them pass first. Also pay close attention to the "left over stuff" from the horses! Don't step on it! In addition, since the trail crosses with PCT, you may see hikers who have been hiking for the past few months on PCT and getting very close to complete their mission to reach Canada! Don't get too frustrated if they do smell "a little" since they have been hiking for months!
The trail also crosses some small streams of water. The interesting part is that the trail crosses the stream on a wooden log. This is quite interesting! Please make sure to make close attention when crossing the bridge. The bridge could be very wet and slippery. There isn't any hand rail on the bridge either, so you don't want to fall off the bridge and fall into the water. Once you reached Ramona Falls, people often have picnic and enjoy the nature of the beautiful waterfall. Make sure you bring your camera to capture the beautiful waterfall!
Note: Please don't feed the wild life animals that you see along the trail or at the waterfall!
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