Moulton Falls Regional Park — Attraction in Battle Ground

I'm convinced that whenever Oregon needs a new park sign created or placed they bring in an intern with no experience and let them have a go at it. As we were about to turn in to Moulton Falls Park at what appeared to be the entrance we noticed a small sign that said "Warning Traffic Teeth". As you are tooling down the highway with cars behind you I personally find a nice "Exit Only" or "Do Not Enter" sign to be spot on in alerting me as to what action to take or not take. We barely managed to dodge that bullet and came to our next sign. The trail map confounded my small brain with a large blowup in the upper left of a completely different park down the road for some reason. Not understanding the trails we ventured on anyway along the road and into the woods where we were surprised to find the nicest public restroom in Oregon. There were fresh flowers in pots outside and inside it was clean as a whistle and smelled like a Fabreeze commercial. We managed to drag ourselves away from there and chose one of the half dozen unmarked trails to explore. We were rewarded when we came out to a swimming hole with a beautiful bridge overhead. What were supposed to be falls were really just small rapids with no falling taking place. All in all a fabulous park that I would...

This is a popular spot, so keep in mind parking can be a challenge depending on the time of day and time of year you go. The East Fork Lewis River flows through a beautiful Forest here, and the waters can be still near the bend which a reflection. The waterfall self here is not too large, but it's where the River it drops into a narrow Canyon forming a deep channel between large amounts of rock. The area between the bend on the waterfalls has become a popular spot for senior portraits. If you decide to try to take senior portraits here please do not cross upstream close to the waterfall. I've seen multiple people lose things they tried to throw over the small channel, and a few people slip. Never seen anyone go over the edge, but it's certainly plausible and a fall over the waterfall into the narrow channel between the Rocks would not end well. Even in September just upstream of the waterfall, this river is often minimum mid-thigh deep so be smart about it. Cross further upstream where it's safer. There are lots of hiking trails in this area, and a few other waterfalls as well. It's easy to see why this place is popular. The lower parking lot fills up quickly, so you may have to go to the upper...

We picked Moulton Falls as a destination for a short drive from Portland on an unexpectedly nice day in February. It turned out to be a terrific spot for some easy walking and excellent sightseeing. The main lot was full, so we wound up in the overflow parking lot near the east end of the park. I'd recommend taking a picture of the trail system, not because it's a vast wilderness, but because the distances seemed much smaller than we expected, and had a few "I guess we're at this point" moments when we thought a given segment of trail might be much longer. The park people have done a wonderful job providing access to scenic riverbanks, and the most potentially dangerous sites all seem to have stone stairways with handrails, which are very much appreciated because the ground near rushing water sections of the Lewis River tend to be wet and potentially slippery. All in all, trails are well maintained, and Moulton Falls Park makes for an easy walk with scenery that makes a...