Go Chasing Waterfalls in and Around Silverton

Silverton is only an hour away from Portland but feels much farther. On a recent weekend visit, shops and restaurants in the historic downtown played country music unironically and unself-consciously. Servers engaged in warm, charming conversations—asking where I was from, what I was up to—for so long before taking my order that I got anxiety about their other tables, before realizing it was a Sunday in the country and maybe I could calm down. During a conversation in an antique shop, I asked a blond-ringleted high school student what it was like to grow up in Silverton.

“Everyone knows everyone, everyone is related to everyone,” she said. “Two kids will start dating and have to break up when they realize they are cousins.”

Not ideal, but at least they broke up. (The 2020 census population of Silverton was just over 10,000, for reference.)

The town is about 14 miles northeast of Salem and was historically home to the Kalapuya and the Molalla tribes. In 1854, Silverton was founded as a sawmill town on the banks of Silver Creek, which flows just behind the businesses on Water Street. Today, the town’s tourist economy is built largely on its proximity to Silver Falls State Park, the crown jewel of the Oregon state park system.

A mosey down Water Street finds coffee shops, restaurants, antique shops and the Palace Theatre, a one-screen, 1936 art deco movie house. A statue of “Bobbie the Wonder Dog” greets moviegoers. Bobbie, a Scotch collie who got separated from his owners on a trip to Indiana in 1921, walked 2,800 miles home, “feet worn to the bone,” according to the placard—arriving in Silverton six months later to find his family. Luckily for us, Silverton is only a quarter-tank of gas away round-trip—but would it be worth bloody paws? Let’s see what we find.

Go Chasing Waterfalls

About 15 miles southeast of Silverton, Silver Falls State Park is famous for its Trail of Ten Falls, considered one of the best hikes in Oregon, if not the best. The 7.2-mile loop takes hikers past 10 waterfalls, including four you can walk behind. A more modest undertaking of two falls via the 2.6-mile South Falls and Maple Ridge Loop Trail paid off big time, though. Pay $10 to park at the South Falls Day Use Area (20024 Silver Falls Highway SE, Sublimity) Follow the sound of the 177-foot South Falls to find the head of the Canyon Trail, but be sure to savor every lookout of the falls on your way down. Upon my approach, the mist from the waterfall combined with a well-placed sunbeam to cast a mirror-image rainbow waterfall. I gasped, clutched my heart and got a little misty myself; if that sounds like a bit much to you, trust that honestly, in the moment, it felt like I was underplaying it. Follow the Canyon Trail to the Lower South Falls—very fun to walk behind—until the 1.4-mile point, when you’ll turn right onto the Maple Ridge Trail to loop back to the trailhead.

Another area waterfall has made national news. In March, the Oregon Legislature set aside $2 million to buy Abiqua Falls (Highway 213 to Crooked Finger Road) and surrounding 140 acres and turn it into a public park. The 92-foot falls has been owned by Mount Angel Abbey for nearly a century. Jamie Hale of The Oregonian recently drove the primitive road and then used ropes to maneuver through the muddy terrain of the hike. The whole thing is less than a mile, but it sounded, frankly, awful. Nothing is well marked, cars regularly get stuck on the rutted road, and rescue teams have had to save hikers and swimmers at least three times in the past decade. I’m sticking to the rivers and the lakes that I’m used to.

Hook ’Em, Horns

Plenty of places in Silverton will feed you even if you’re still wearing hiking boots. Mac’s Place (201 N Water St., 503-873-2441, facebook.com/SilvertonMacsPlace), boasts the oldest surviving building in Silverton, serving food and drinks since 1890. The back patio overlooking the creek is where it’s at, but inside offers kitschy décor like long horns and electric guitars over the bar and growlers serving as light fixtures. The burger ($12.95) was generous in size and came with homemade habanero-marionberry ketchup that elevated the whole sandwich. A block and a half up the street is Silverton Bake Shop (311 N Water St., silvertonbakeshop.com) where the lattes run a modest $4.25 for 12 ounces. Give in to temptation and order Meg’s Cookie ($4), a kitchen-sink bake that absolutely slaps.

What’s Old Is New

Want to get outfitted to look like a Multnomah Athletic Club member from 75 years ago? Try Daylight Vintage (106 S First St., instagram.com/daylightvintage), which earlier this month carried a throwback MAC gym bag ($20) from the club’s 125th birthday in 2016 and a midcentury Jantzen-brand American flag swimsuit ($64). While Daylight specializes in rare clothing—especially men’s and Western wear—the Red Bench (205 N Water St., 503-873-6555, sites.google.com/view/theredbenchsilvertonoregon/home) on the main drag is more of a vintage generalist. The sprawling collection spills out onto the sidewalk, but once inside, the shop is organized by category; here are all the license plates ($10), there are all the cameras and lenses, and so on.

All the Right Angles

After already hiking, eating and shopping, one might be tempted to point the car toward Portland, but that would mean missing the second-best thing in Silverton (second, of course, to getting a God-wink from a rainbow waterfall). The Gordon House (869 W Main St., 503-874-6006, thegordonhouse.org; $20) is the only Frank Lloyd Wright design built in Oregon, and it is fascinating. Wright hated drapery, so he designed perforated wooden window treatments (fretwork) for privacy instead—they look sort of like saws all over the windows, but midcentury modern chic. The 45-minute docent tours run at noon, 1 and 2 pm, Wednesday through Sunday, and are well worth it for a fuller explanation of Wright’s “Usonian” architectural vision for middle-class living, and the Gordon House’s fraught 2001 move from its original location in Wilsonville to Silverton.

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Silverton

From Belmont Arco: 45.8 mi

Gas needed at 30 mpg: 1.5 gal.

Cost at $4.75 a gal.: $7.13