Columbia River National Gorge Scenic Area
The Columbia River Gorge began forming as far back as the Miocene (roughly 17 to 12 million years ago), and continued to take shape through the Pleistocene (2 million to 700,000 years ago). During this period the Cascades Range was forming, which slowly moved the Columbia River’s delta about 100 miles (160 km) north to its current location.
Although the river slowly eroded the land over this period of time, the most drastic changes took place at the end of the last Ice Age when the Missoula Floods cut the steep, dramatic walls that exist today, flooding the river as high up as Crown Point. This quick erosion left many layers of volcanic rock exposed.
Multnomah Falls
Multnomah Falls is the undisputed best waterfall in Oregon. The lower falls is 69 feet. The upper falls is 543 feet.
It’s a very impressive waterfall and worth a stroll up to the Benson bridge. Many of the falls along the Columbia Gorge were formed by the Missoula floods sheering off the walls of the gorge.
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