Multnomah Falls reopens to the public, with crowd limits, lines and a face mask mandate - OregonLive

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Oregon’s tallest waterfall and one of the state’s most popular attractions is back open to the public, with a few new precautions in place amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Multnomah Falls has reopened to visitors in the Columbia River Gorge, the U.S. Forest Service announced Tuesday, with new social distancing and face mask mandates, in addition to other strategies to keep crowds down and visitors separated from one another.

There will be two phases to the reopening, the forest service said. The first phase, effective Tuesday, will be first-come, first served, and will allow up to 300 visitors at a time between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. to check in and wait in a socially distanced queue that is set up along a one-way path from the parking lot to the viewing platform at the base of the waterfall. Phase 2, which is expected to be implemented in the next two to three weeks, will involve an online ticketing system that will allow 300 people to visit the waterfall each hour, and will require reservations at least one day in advance.

Face coverings will be mandatory for all visitors, the forest service said, and signs will be posted asking people to maintain six feet of distance from those not in their household. The Benson Bridge viewpoint at Multnomah Falls will remain closed, along with the hiking trail to the top of Multnomah Falls.

“It’s all being done to provide for public safety. We do not want to be the vector of spreading the virus,” Stan Hinatsu, recreation manager for the U.S. Forest Service in the Columbia Gorge, said Tuesday. “We’re asking visitors to be diligent and to really abide by the rules.”

In addition to the lower viewing platform, the Multnomah Falls Lodge and visitor center will reopen to the public under the same face mask and social distancing requirements. The Oregon Department of Transportation will also open the Historic Columbia River Highway from Bridal Veil to Ainsworth, though many viewpoints and day-use areas along the highway will remain closed, and parking will not be allowed along the historic highway at Multnomah Falls, forest officials said.

Several other recreation areas in the gorge will also reopen Tuesday, forest officials announced, including the Angel’s Rest and Horsetail Falls trails. The Wahkeena Trail will be open to the Larch Mountain Trail, though parking below Wahkeena Falls will be limited.

Multnomah Falls initially closed to the public back in March, as the coronavirus began to spread across the Pacific Northwest. Hiking trails around the waterfall and in the area closed soon after, as all recreation areas in the Columbia River Gorge temporarily closed to the public on March 26.

Several parks and hiking trails reopened at the end of May, though several popular areas remain closed, including Crown Point and several other waterfalls in the “waterfall corridor” on the western stretch of the gorge.

Forest and state park officials have given no timeline on the reopening of those other recreation areas.

A map of the new queues and one-way paths at the reopened Multnomah Falls.U.S. Forest Service

--Jamie Hale; jhale@oregonian.com; 503-294-4077; @HaleJamesB

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