Silver Falls State Park

Just 20 miles east of Salem lies Silver Falls State Park. We took an afternoon drive without the dogs to see what was up there. The park has 10 reachable waterfalls just by following the signs on the trail. Since this is October and we had just witnessed a three month drought in the area I was surprised at how much water still flowed.

Upper North Falls are only 65 feet tall but so beautiful and only a few blocks from the parking area.

North Falls from about 1/2 mile away still looks awesome, but there is still something very special about North Falls.

There is a hike that goes behind the North Falls, so cool!.

The North Falls have a huge cave that has been cut away by the water.

We were hiking through a temperate rain forest to get to the falls.

South Falls Lodge was completed in 1940 by the Civilian Conservation Corps using only material from the park itself. The furniture inside, many chairs, tables and chests were made from just two myrtle trees. The combined weight of the those two trees was 18,000 pound, but after weeks in the kiln to control warpage they came out at 8,000 pounds. The 1940 furniture still looks beautiful today.

Donna overlooking the valley below from the State Park.