Dalles Mountain Ranch

Dalles Mountain Ranch is located near Dalles, Oregon as its name suggests; however, the exact location is actually on the North side of Columbia River in Washington State. Is is about 90 miles East of Portland and takes about 1.5 hours of driving to get there. Dalles Mountain Ranch trail is part of Columbia Hill State Park. The trail is open to hikers, and bike riders and horse riders. The Mountain Ranch trail is located at the Northern part of Columbia Hill State Park at the end of a gravel road.


We decided to visit Dalles Mountain Ranch near the end of May and hoping that the wildflowers are still in bloom, although we knew that the chance was very slim. Wildflowers along the Columbia Gorge  are usually in full bloom in the beginning of May.

We got to Dalles Mountain Ranch by 8:30 in the morning and we were the only one there. The day use fee is $10 or you can get a Discovery Pass which is $30 for the whole year. The parking lot isn't very big but we were guessing that not many people actually come here.

When we got off the car, it was extremely windy outside. We could barely walk against the wind. Since we already drove 2 hours to get here, we still decided to do a loop hike around Dalles Mountain Ranch trail.

As we walked down the trail, we could see very abandoned farmstead along the side. THe green grass on the hill with abandoned barn was quite a scenery to enjoy.  When we got to the intersection point of the 8 miles loop, we found that the West side of the loop got blocked off. That was the path towards the Dalles Mountain Ranch car. The path has now been cut off with fence and there were groups of cattle in there. We were not sure why it got blocked off, but we were extremely disappointed. We had no choice but to go the other way but could not complete the loop anymore. In addition, all the wildflowers were pretty much gone.

It was not the best hike that we wanted due to the loop is no longer available, no mountain ranch car, and no wildflower. We should have done more research on this when we went for a hike. Nevertheless, it was a pleasant weather for hiking along Columbia Gorge other than being a bit windy.

Silver Falls

Silver Falls is located within Silver Falls State Park in Oregon. It is about 1.5 hours South of Portland and it is truly a marvelous gem of Oregon. There is a total of 10 water falls within Silver Falls State Park. Most notably the North Falls and the South Falls. There is a total of 4 water falls where people can go behind the falls to view the water fall from a different perspective.


Oregon has been in a self lock down mode for over 2 months and started slowly opening up the state parks for visitors. Thus during the Memorial Day long weekend, we decided to pay a visit to Silver Falls and it would be our first outdoor activity over the past 3 months.

We got to Silver Falls State Park around 9AM and the parking lot was about 30% full. We expected that the parking lot will fill up very quickly within the next 2 hours. Unfortunately NW Forest Pass and Discovery Pass do not work here. Thus a day fee is $5 needs to be paid at the pay station.

We started our hike from the South Falls. The first part of the trail takes people all the way down to the bottom of the valley to view the water fall. People can choose to take the path that goes behind the water falls, or there is a different path that leads to the front of the water falls. We then made our way towards North.

After about 30 minutes we got to the Lower South Falls. The amount of water that came down the cliff was huge. The trail goes right behind the water falls and very close to the water. We were soaking wet when walking behind it. The trail was partially flooded as well but we were able to step on the rocks to avoid getting our shoes wet.

After another 1.5 hours, we finally got to North Falls. We could hear the thunderous sound of water pouring down the cliff to the pond below. It was just an amazing sight. The trail behind the North Falls was dry and wide. It was very easy to walk on.

Getting back to the South Falls was a lot easier from here. The Rim Trail at the top of the valley is a much shorter trail that is only 2.5 miles and we were able to get back within an hour.

Overall, Silver Falls is a great place to go to during a sunny weather and enjoy the outdoor. The park is open all year round and thus it could be interesting to visit during the winter when snow falls.