Wahkeena Falls Trail - Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area OR
Description
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees were brought in as early as 1933 to improve the hiking trail network in the Gorge along with their other forest management and recreation development. The Wahkeena Falls Trail was among the first to be improved, following Wahkeena Creek toward its source on the Columbia gorge rim. Another new trail, along the rim, linked Wahkeena and Multnomah Falls to allow hikers to go from one falls to the other without using the highway.
In the 1920s, as part of a larger project giving Columbia River Gorge waterfalls their current names, the Mazamas (a local climbing and hiking club) used the Yakima Indian word for “most beautiful” to name Wahkeena Falls.
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Wahkeena Falls -Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area OR
Source notes
"Park Near City Attracts: Benson Site, 32 miles east of Portland, Invites Motorists," Oregonian. June 3, 1934. p. 39.
"Wahkeena Falls Trail #420," US Forest Service website (Viewed May 10, 2023): https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/crgnsa/recarea/?recid=29998#:~:text=As%20an%20out%2Dand%2Dback,7.3%20mile%20round%20trip%20hike.
Project originally submitted by Judith T Kenny on May 15, 2023.
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