Did a nice ~6 mile loop on a misty day. We didn't realize there was a race going on, so it was a busy for a little bit but then cleared out. We only saw a couple groups more than a mile from the trailheads. This loop was based on the AllTrails Wahkeena Falls Loop, but starting from the Multnomah Falls parking side, because we wanted to hit that part before it got too busy.
I really enjoyed the upper section above Multnomah and thought it was better than Multnomah. There are tons of little and big waterfalls up there! On both the Multnomah side and the Wahkeena you go through really cool gorges as you follow the creeks. They are connected by a nice, but not as exciting trail connecting the two. We got a few glimpses of snow frosted trees from the connector trail and saw a few spots with a dusting of snow, but nothing on the trail. The Multnomah Creek gorge was more rocky with some glimpses of the Columbia Gorge on the climb up and had more waterfalls. The Wahkeena side had more moss and a wetter feel. I loved them both!
The trail was in great shape except for one spot where some tree roots lifted a big piece. For better or worse the trail is paved for about the first mile on either side, which is most of the elevation gain/loss, so it can be a bit hard on the joints. On the Multnomah side there are signs counting off the switchbacks which made me laugh (ie. 1 of 11). There are a couple water crossing, but they were pretty easy. One had a log bridge and the others were just rock hopping or walking through a couple inches of water. It was nice to have poles since it was wet, but they weren't really needed.
Multnomah has restrooms with warm water. On a misty cool Sunday there was plenty of parking when we got here a little before 8AM. We left around noon and there was still space but it was much busier.
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