Trip Report: Silver Falls State Park

When: 05/20/2017 Location: Silver Falls State Park Conditions: Mostly sunny with scattered clouds, around 70 degrees. PERFECT day for a hike. Duration: 8.9 miles afternoon hike. Difficulty: Beginner too intermediate. Kid Friendly: Yes Pet Friendly: Dogs are NOT allowed on loop trails. Useful links: Oregon State Parks The Full Report: We went to Silver Falls State Park on a partly sunny May weekend, and, like so many other popular hiking spots, there were some crowds. The parking is ample, but the lot was pretty full. Also note that you do have to pay for parking. You may be able to find some limited free parking if you’re willing to hike to the trail heads, just remember that there is no parking on the shoulders of the road. There are two major trails heads and we opted to start at the South entrance. There is a giant park here with picnic tables, restrooms, and even a cafe that serves food. Yes, it is crowded here, so if you want to avoid crowds you may want to go on less visited days. We started at the South Falls with some amazing viewpoints. The paths are well marked and easy to navigate. From the South Falls, we chose to follow the outer trail in a clockwise direction. I believe there are 10 waterfalls total in this 8.9-mile hike. Each one of them had numerous viewpoints that are worthy of awesomeness. I also want to mention that most of the paths around the two major falls are paved and that one has about 8-10 flights of stairs you will have to go up or down depending on which way you follow the loop. Each trail is marked with directions, the names of the falls, the vertical drop of each fall, and numerous viewpoints. Overall, I would say this is a fun hike with lots of ups and downs, narrow paths, and a few paths that go behind the waterfalls. It is pretty epic.