Columbia Gorge Waterfalls and Vista House Tour from Director Park, Portland

This tour starts at Director Park in downtown Portland and follows the Historic Columbia River Highway, the oldest scenic highway in the United States, into the Columbia River Gorge. The Gorge is one of the most photographed National Scenic Areas in the country, with basalt lava flows nearly a mile deep and species found nowhere else in the world. The first stop is usually Crown Point Vista House, an observatory and museum on the National Register of Historic Places, 733 feet above the river on the remains of a lava flow. Next comes Latourell Falls, which drops 249 feet over a wall of columnar basalt, with an optional short quarter-mile walk depending on the season. Multnomah Falls follows: 620 feet in two steps, the highest waterfall in Oregon and the second highest in the nation. Guests can look over the Cascadian-style lodge from 1925 and the view of Benson Bridge from the viewing platform. A 10-minute stop at Horsetail Falls, just off the historic highway, rounds out the waterfalls. The route runs east along the river through Troutdale, the Gateway to the Gorge, and returns to the same park in the city centre.