Oregon's 620 foot signature falls and the Northwest's most visited natural site: spring-fed enough to run all year, biggest through winter and spring.
November through April
Big water window
in a typical year
Spring fed
What drives it
Multnomah Creek
Climatology
Data on this page
Multnomah Creek is ungauged
USFS Columbia Gorge
Managed by
their rules govern
Trail status, closures and safety rules belong to each falls' managing agency, named and linked on every page.
The season
What fills Multnomah Falls, and when
Multnomah is the hybrid the Forest Service describes exactly: fed by underground springs off Larch Mountain, so it never dries, with flow that is usually highest during the winter and spring seasons when Gorge rain piles on top of the springs. September shows the slender version; a February visit gets the thunder, sometimes with ice.
Typical best flow: November through April
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What the agency itself says
Fed by underground springs from nearby Larch Mountain, the flow over the falls varies and is usually highest during the winter and spring seasons.
Spring-fed water advertises itself: the travertine terraces below Havasu Falls are built by minerals the spring water carries out of the aquifer, and the blue green color holds in every season. “Havasu falls Arizona” — Stolz Gary M, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — Public domain
Getting there
Access, in the agency's words and ours
Timed use permits for the I-84 parking lot were required May 22 through September 7, 2026, with reservations required daily 9 am to 6 pm in that window, per the Forest Service. The 2.4 mile round trip trail climbs about 600 feet to the top; the site is open year round, day use only.
Both tiers of Multnomah Falls behind Benson Bridge in fall color, photographed by the Forest Service. The springs keep it alive through the dry months; the rain brings the roar back each November. “Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Multnomah Falls, fall color - 3” — Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region — Public domain
Common questions
Multnomah Falls flow season FAQ
The reliable big-water window is November through April. Multnomah is the hybrid the Forest Service describes exactly: fed by underground springs off Larch Mountain, so it never dries, with flow that is usually highest during the winter and spring seasons when Gorge rain piles on top of the springs. September shows the slender version; a February visit gets the thunder, sometimes with ice.
Multnomah Creek has no USGS gauge near the falls, so the seasonal pattern above is the flow guide for Multnomah Falls, and Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area (US Forest Service) is the source for current conditions on the ground.
No. The Forest Service calls it one of the tallest year-round waterfalls in the country, on the strength of its Larch Mountain springs. The seasonal story is amplitude, not existence: winter and spring roughly double the summer show.
Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area (US Forest Service). Timed use permits for the I-84 parking lot were required May 22 through September 7, 2026, with reservations required daily 9 am to 6 pm in that window, per the Forest Service. The 2.4 mile round trip trail climbs about 600 feet to the top; the site is open year round, day use only. Trail status, closures and safety rules are theirs, and their page is linked on this one; nothing here overrides what they publish.
Yosemite Falls in May, running on snowmelt that will be gone by late summer. The National Park Service tells visitors the falls can be dry by August, which is why every falls page here starts from its watershed. “Tourists below Yosemite Falls (39832011431)” by Mike McBey, CC BY 2.0
A 224 foot single plunge over lichen-splashed columnar basalt in the western Columbia Gorge, minutes from the historic highway and at its best in the wet half of the year.
The 177 foot curtain you can walk behind, headliner of Silver Falls State Park's Trail of Ten Falls and the centerpiece of Oregon's largest state park.
A two-tier plunge over a wall of columnar basalt on the North Umpqua, with flow smoothed year round by the hydroelectric diversion whose wooden pipe lines the access road.
Oregon's second highest single drop at 286 feet, an easy 50 yards from the parking lot in summer and a snowshoe destination when the observation site closes for winter.
Flow windows are typical-year climatology drawn from the driver and the agency language quoted above, not forecasts. Live readings and per-date percentiles are U.S. Geological Survey data, public domain; the above-or-below-typical line is our comparison and is labelled as such. Access, trail and safety information belongs to Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area (US Forest Service). National picture: waterfall season across the US → Hero image: “Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Multnomah Falls, fall color - 3” — Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region — Public domain
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