Bridal Veil Falls

Access is from Bridal Veil Falls State Park, located one mile west of the Bridal Veil exit (eastbound only) from Interstate 84, along the Columbia Gorge Scenic Highway. A trail winds 1/3 of a mile to the viewing decks overlooking the falls.Though Bridal Veil Falls is one of the most pristine waterfalls of the Columbia River Gorge, pictures cannot properly do justice to the falls or the surrounding area. The falls are the only in the area which occurs below the historic Columbia Gorge Scenic Highway - the base of the falls standing probably no more than 20 vertical feet above the Columbia River. The reason for this appears to be partially that Bridal Veil Creek is more or less the largest stream draining from Larch Mountain, and as such, it has worn down the mountainside much more significantly than its neighboring streams. The ubiquitous Columbia Gorge basalts are seen on the bluffs north the falls, but this is the only fall along the Old Highway where the underlying rock structure isn't blatantly obvious. On an interesting geologic note, early in the 20th century, the tiers of the falls were dramatically different in stature. The upper tier was a good 30 feet taller and the lower tier was half its current size. The creek squeezed through a narrow notch, perhaps no more than 3 feet wide between the two drops, but debris has since filled in the gap, and resulted in the waterfall appearing as it does today.Just downstream of Bridal Veil Falls was the site of a large mill operation between 1910 and 1930. Remnants of the footings of the buildings can still be seen, as well as a retention wall along the creek.