Wildflowers and Waterfalls in the Gorge

Green-Banded or Sagebrush Mariposa Lily

Calochortus Macrocarpus

This western native lily makes a splash in mid to late June, adding a lavender haze to the grassy hills and lightly wooded slopes of the eastern Gorge. Kneel down to see the fragile, goblet-like lavender blossoms with spidery sepals and a white base tucked amid the drying grasses.
See It: Mayer State Park; Tom McCall Nature Preserve; Memaloose State Park; Columbia Hills State Park

Barrett’s Beardtongue

Penstemon Barretiae

A threatened wildflower species, Barrett’s beardtongue grows no place on earth (naturally) other than in the Gorge. The bright pinkish-purple flowers seen clinging to rocky cliffs and slopes grow only in a 10-mile range between Hood River and Lyle.
See It: along roadsides between Hood River and Lyle; on the Glenwood Trail in the upper Klickitat Canyon; Klickitat Wildlife Refuge

Columbia Gorge Daisy

Erigeron Oreganus

While most woodland wildflowers have finished flowering by the start of summer, this late bloomer is just getting going, sending up picture-perfect blue, pale pink, or white flowers in mid-June. Native only to the western Gorge, this daisy (an officially threatened species) is found from Crown Point to as far east as Mosier. To see it, look up: the Columbia Gorge daisy prefers wet areas under basalt ledges in the west Gorge, mostly on the Oregon side.
See It: Oneonta Gorge; Latourell Falls; McCord Creek Falls

Mountain Lady’s Slipper

Cypripedium Montanum 

Consider yourself fortunate if you spot this rare, bright white orchid (or smell its sweet fragrance). Growing wild from Canada to California, the mountain lady’s slipper can be found in open woods and brushy slopes from late May to early June—or later at higher elevations.
See It: Major Creek Plateau; above Catherine Creek; other scattered high-elevation patches between Mosier and The Dalles

Bitterroot

Lewisia Rediviva 

Named after Meriwether Lewis, who collected the first herbarium specimens, bitterroot blooms May through mid-June amid rocks and gravel in open areas of the east Gorge. Although it’s hard to see once it shrivels into dormancy after flowering, in season the low-growing white and pink-hued flowers can be nearly 2 inches across.
See It: Columbia Hills Ridge west of The Dalles Mountain Road and east of Haystack Butte

Four Often-Overlooked Waterfalls  

Falls Creek Falls

Carson

Two miles down a trail that’s often snowed in until May, Falls Creek Falls, near Carson, doesn’t see quite the same foot traffic as a lot of Oregon-side falls. But that just means you’re more likely to have the majestic, multitiered tumult—a 220-feet-cascade that drops prettily over basalt cliffs before plunging into a frothy cauldron of white water—to yourself.

Dry Creek Falls

Cascade Locks

Stationed about 2.5 miles down a moderate trail near Bridge of the Gods, Dry Creek Falls is many things—uncrowded and easy to reach, for instance—but dry isn’t one of them. In fact, on the days when you can feel the spray from this powerful cascade, plunging out of a notch in a mossy 250-foot-tall cliff, you’ll wonder just where the name comes from. (At one point it was diverted to sate Cascade Locks’ thirst.) Don’t worry, though: you’ll have plenty of time to ponder on the easy Doug fir– and vine maple–flecked trek back to the car.

Hole in the Wall Falls

Hood River

Don’t let this manmade cascade’s location, just off I-84, dissuade you from visiting; Hole in the Wall Falls is an unexpected sylvan haven. Boulders and a wading pool at the bottom of the falls, which shoots out of a tunnel drilled to prevent highway flooding, invite family frolicking, while a small ledge at the base of its upper tier promises a prime sun-worshipping perch. All this only a half-mile from the parking lot at Starvation Creek.

Panther Creek Falls

Carson

Twelve miles north of Carson, a short, unmarked path through a cedar grove leads to what can only be described as a secret elfin glen, Panther Creek Falls. A wooden platform affords a look at two falls—the first the torrent of Panther Creek, the second a series of springs fanning out along a 100-foot-wall in glistening ribbons and rivulets. Below you, the two converge in a scene out of a J. R. R. Tolkien tome: a mist-filled ravine coated in a soft green carpet of moss and mighty cedar roots.

Published in the The Gorge issue of Portland Monthly.