Sunset Falls Day Use — Attraction in Battle Ground

Located 16 miles East from Battleground & 6.3 miles East from cell phone reception (from Verizon).

These falls are spectacular. Sunset Falls Day use area is located just past Sunset Falls Campground. Don’t be confused these are two separate recreation areas even though they are connected.

Parking & use of the campground is for paying campground users ONLY. While the Day Use Area requires a NW Forest Pass or Interagency Pass or you can pay the $5 for a day permit. See the campground/day use map to verify that your parking in the correct area.

This being said there is FREE roadside parking ruffly 500ft upstream from the Day Use parking lots. And yes it is legal and permitted to park there. While driving to Sunset Falls, there is no parking on either shoulders of the road starting right before Sunset Falls Campground, along the road passing the Campground and the road along the Day Use Area. No parking signs are posted (some signs have been modified as pictured). Continuing past the actual falls themselves the pavement ends and FREE parking begins approximately 200ft past the end of the pavement.

The pictures and videos included in this review speak for themselves. The videos were originally 1 to 2 minutes however, Google auto shorten them down to 30 seconds resulting in them appearing choppy and unfinished. My apologies.

If it is super hot in town, and you’re looking for a destination to escape and cool off with a large possibility of only seeing a few other people (Monday thru Thursday) than this is the place for you.

NEGATIVES: the pit toilets are absolutely disgusting. Even compared to a normal pit toilet facility. (This also seems to be the consensus among other reviewers). I would rather venture out into the woods and pop a squat than deal with the wretched smell and conditions of the restrooms. I would say that the swimming conditions aren’t for young children unless you venture about 500ft upstream where the waters are calmer and there isn’t a hazard of swimmers being washed over the falls. Swimming in the river directly down the stream of the Falls is nice and deep however it quickly becomes quite shallow farther down stream. The grounds themselves are overgrown. I don’t know if this is the type of “look” the forest service is going for? But my 71-year-old mother would not feel comfortable walking down the slightly uneven slippery moss covered path to the falls.

To wrap it up positively I absolutely love the solitude of this area. I’ve been coming here for over 20 years. There are several other hiking trails, rivers, and waterfalls within a close driving vicinity.

If you are interested in pictures and videos of Sunset Falls Campground (NOT Day Use Area) then see my separate review under the “Sunset Falls Campground”...

Another absolutely beautiful waterfall area along the crystal clear East Fork Lewis River! 💚

This gem is located within Gifford Pinchot National Forest (US Forest Service). It is just past Sunset Falls Campground.

Just as everything that is located within Gifford Pinchot National Forest, it is in pristine condition, so please do leave it as beautiful and clean as you found it. Clean up after your pet, and definitely throw away your trash. 🙏🏼

I am putting up photos/videos so that you can see just how stunning Sunset Falls is. To get the ultimate experience, though, you truly do just need to see it for yourself. You will not be disappointed!

Make sure to check out all the other amazing sites in this...

Displaces utterly fantastic. We plan to go back in the summer when the air is hot and water will be cool. It’s not a space for swimming necessarily but for splashing around the edges. The water there is pretty rough. But it is. You do need to pay five dollars to park and you should have cash or check available. It’s a fantastic place to bring your family and have a picnic. If you choose to go past the falls on the road, there are lots of potholes in the dirt access road. It took us an hour to get there from gresham and it was well...