We woke up to a beautiful day and decided to eat our breakfast outside at the picnic table on our site. The girls were disappointed they never got a chance to play the lawn games at this campground. While Adam and I were breaking down camp, hitching and getting ready to travel again the girls took that time to try out all the games that were set up. They were having so much fun they didn’t even want to come with us when we went over to the beach one last time.
We left Sea Perch RV Resort at 10am to make the 138 mile drive to Silver Falls State Park in Sublimity, Oregon. This was the only destination of our trip where we planned to stay in a state park campground rather than a private commercial campground outside the park. It was also the only location that would not have a sewer hookup, but for one night this wouldn't be a problem. The campground had an unusually late check-in time at 4pm so we knew when we arrived at 1pm time there was little chance we could head to our site. Since we could not get in early they gave us a day pass for the state park which had a parking lot that could easily accommodate our rig.
We grabbed our cooler and walked over to a covered pavilion to eat lunch and then headed into the park. The park is on 9,000 acres and has 10 waterfalls. There are many trails but it is most known for the Trail of Ten Falls which is a 7.2 mile loop trail visiting all 10 falls. As much as we would have liked to do this it just wasn't realistic. We decided to focus our limited time here on the trail around South Falls.
The first thing we came to was the South Falls Historic District. There were multiple buildings dating back to the opening of the park in 1933. No surprise our girls immediately noticed that one of these buildings, the Lodge, was selling ice cream and they were very excited to get a cold treat before continuing on.
Once they finished we continued down the path to South Falls which is a 177ft cascade that has an amphitheater-like surrounding allowing the trail to pass behind the flow of the falls. The geology is very interesting because the ground in this area is made up of lava flows from 8 separate volcanic eruptions. These layers of lava are exposed in the area behind the falls as you walk the trail.
First we went over to see the top of South Falls.
Next we decided to take the trail to go behind the South Falls. As we started on the downhill, winding walkway we couldn’t help but notice the people coming back up the trail. There was one gentleman cradling his dog in his arms and both the man and the dog were panting while his two boys were behind him seeming to push him up the hill. As we continued to walk we continued to see people coming back up who looked very out of breath. Lily started to get very nervous about going down and was telling us she didn’t want to go because she wouldn’t be able to get back up. We convinced her she would be ok and we would help her. She was filled with doubt but we got her to keep moving. As we got closer to the falls she forgot about her concerns and was able to focus on her amazing surroundings. The waterfall was cascading down right in front of us. Behind us were very cool lava rocks, some of which formed little nooks to explore and alcoves to sit.
We were considering how much further to continue on the trail before turning back. As we walked we came to another mother with a few kids and we started chatting. She was telling us the walk from that point is very beautiful but can be challenging. Adam and I decided with Lily already being concerned it was probably not worth it to take the risk of continuing. We turned around and were now the people walking up the steep walkway. It was challenging but we were all able to make it without a problem.
It was now well past check in time and we were debating whether to start another trail or head to the campground. Ultimately the reason we wanted to come to this park was to see waterfalls and walk in back of them. We did accomplish that goal even if it was just one of the ten so we decided to claim success and head out. We are hoping to come back when we feel like we would be able to do the entire Trail of Ten Falls loop.
When we checked in we found out there would be a Ranger talk at 7:30 pm. So we were very happy to have enough time to get into our site, set up camp and eat dinner before the talk. Backing into this site turned out to be difficult. It was one of the few times during the trip that Adam went back to the camp host to ask for help. Each time this happened it was because the road was very narrow and there were obstacles on either side which made it hard to identify the exact right times to cut the wheel without potentially hitting something. With the extra help from the camp host we backed in without any problem.
We got to the Ranger Talk just in time and it was very interesting to learn the history of the falls. It turns out the South Falls that we saw was one of the more significant of the park. She told stories of people coming from all over to watch as a man attempted to go over the falls back in the early 1900’s. While we sat and listened we did get a little distracted by the adorable dog sitting in the row ahead who kept turning around and smiling at us. We had to keep petting his head as he would turn and look at us. The girls got the Oregon state junior ranger booklets from the Ranger after her presentation.
We went over to the playground for a bit for the girls to play before going back inside the RV. As soon as we got back inside we got changed into our pajamas, I made us popcorn and we started watching E.T. We spread the girls blankets on the floor to have a carpet picnic with our popcorn. About halfway into the movie I could not keep my eyes open anymore and had to leave the party to get to sleep. Adam and the girls stayed up and finished watching the movie.
