Hiked the Lower, Middle, and Upper Falls in the Lewis River Recreation Area last Saturday

The parking lots require reservations, so I was lucky to get one for the Middle Falls parking lot for Saturday. We stayed close to Cougar, so we were able to get there around 8 AM. 

Driving on Forest Road 90 was quite OK, the rough parts had signage, so no surprise potholes, I had plenty of warning to slow down in time.

The parking lot for Middle Falls had only one other car, but there wasn't any privy here.

We first hiked to Lower Falls. Lots of people camping here and making breakfast or getting ready to hike, but there was no one along the viewpoints. The falls are beautiful, but I didn't see any obvious way to go down to the river downstream and close to the falls.

From here we made our way to Middle Falls, but did not take the trail to go down to it, and instead first visited Upper Falls.

The trail from Middle to Upper is really pretty - you walk at the foot of a cliff at some places, with jagged rocks above you that looks like they might fall down. There are also many large Douglas Fir trees, and I also saw a thick Red Cedar. Lots of huckleberry bushes too, but looked like the berries were long picked off.

The Upper Falls are beautiful too, and you can spread out and sit down at the river level here.

I also continued further up, where the trail was steep, but I could get to the Upper Falls viewing area, where I was closer to the loud gushing of water on the side of the falls, definitely worth making the trip uphill. 

On the way back took the trail down to Middle Falls, where you do have some space to sit on the rocks next to the falls, and dip your feet in the water.

Back in the parking lot we did see a ranger making sure the parked cars had a NW Forest Pass and parking reservation, and driving back we also saw another ranger stopping cars as they entered the fee area and checking their reservations. We had printed ours out so we didn't depend on a screenshot and could display the print-out on our dash.

What a beautiful hike! I left Portland around 5:45am and made it to the lower Lewis Falls day use parking by 7:50am. Be sure to get the $2.00 parking pass if you’re hiking in this area this summer! I had no issues getting a permit online for the date I wanted to hike. Trailhead parking was easy and only two other cars were there when I arrived. Bathroom at the trailhead was clean and stocked with TP. Yahoo!

The lower falls is within 1/8 mile of the day use parking and it’s gorgeous! I hiked on to middle falls and only saw one other group of hikers. Trail is easy with minimal issues- some mud and a few fallen trees - but nothing too difficult to pass! Middle Falls is a short jaunt off the main Lewis river trail but it’s all downhill to get there so be prepared for a short but steep return. 

Upper Falls was about 3.5 miles in and is the most beautiful waterfall I’ve seen on a hike. I caught the morning light and it was like out of a fairytale. I hung out on the rocks for a bit then turned around to head back. Made it back to my car in just over 2 hours. Total mileage was about 6.3. 

After a misguided trip thanks to navigation, I arrived at the Lower Lewis Falls parking lot just after 1pm. The road in has a lot of portions that are extra narrow due to blow downs not being completely cleared off the road. I also saw two deer on the road, so going slowly is important. The lot was mostly empty and the falls were raging.

Due to the recent rains, the trails are very muddy and in many places covered with running water. At the first bridge between lower and middle falls, a tree has fallen onto the bridge and broken the side. There are more blow downs to scramble over/under/around along the entire trail. Between the middle and upper falls, a tree on the downhill side of the trail has fallen and taken out that section of trail in the process. Additional slides in that area are likely. 

Very few people for a holiday weekend which was a nice surprise.  

The obstacles on the trail are downed trees and a couple washouts, but nothing very difficult. The worst is a washout between the upper falls and the upper falls parking area. If you plan to hike down from there, you may slide down on your butt a short distance. Otherwise, the RT distance from the lower to upper falls is about 5.5 miles, including a small detour around a closed section of trail and down to the middle falls. Not sure why WTA has this as 8.8 miles. All falls are spectacular right now, with an enormous amount of runoff coming through.

It was an amazing day. The trail to ourselves and sunny weather. We got a lot later start than we planned, but everything still worked out.

The roads up still had a lot of snow in areas, but passable. I had my Honda CRV. Snow only cleared down middle in areas too, making a one lane road, but due to lack of traffic, no issues here.

The trail was in decent condition. Some downed tree, most passable. Areas of snow, also passable, but could be a little slick. The worst spot was near the upper falls just before the bridge.

My oldest, 16yrs, my daughter, 6yrs, and our new puppy, Scout, a German Shepherd / Husky mix, at 3 ½ months old all did well.