SILVERTON — There are a couple of grottoes behind South Falls, the most visited attraction of Silver Falls State Park, that are just large enough to allow a visitor to disappear for a few minutes of quiet reflection.

Carved into basalt from an ancient lava flow, these cavities — beneath an exaggerated overhang obscured by the falls — are remnants of a 15 million-year-old forest that was inundated by molten rock. The stone is now covered with orange and gray-green lichen and a few hardy ferns that have rooted themselves in cracks. Holes have formed where geologists say tree trunks once stood, leaving a honeycomb of gnarled features.

Scooching back, rump first, into an open cavern, or climbing 10 feet up the pockmarked rock to other hollows, gives one a unique perspective on the spectacular waterfall. The torrent that pours over the side of a precipice, a little more than a mile above the confluence of the South and North Forks of Silver Creek, is not one that is easily forgotten. The chute of cold mountain water explodes into splash and spray 177 feet from the clifftop, giving birth to a heavy mist that saturates the walls surrounding the cataract.

Ironically, the driest point is behind the falls. From this observation point, protected from a frightening fall by a sturdy log fence, one can see hikers crossing a bridge over the South Fork where the stream continues its journey toward the Pudding River, a Willamette tributary. One can observe others making their way down a steady quarter-mile grade to circumambulate these falls. But one must leave this rocky sanctuary for a view to the top of the cliff, where visitors behold their first look at South Falls while deciding whether to make the descent.

Trail of Ten Falls

Following the recent death of the musician Prince, I can’t help thinking of the song “(Don’t Go Chasing) Waterfalls.” The record was a hit a couple of decades back, both for Prince and for TLC, who originally recorded it. But that’s exactly what photographer Barb Gonzalez and I did last month: We went chasing waterfalls.

There are a couple of other great waterfall routes in Oregon for drivers, specifically in the lower Columbia River Gorge and along the North Umpqua River in Douglas County. But for hikers, nothing tops the Trail of Ten Falls in Silver Falls State Park.

Located, as the crow flies, about 10 miles north of Mehama on State Highway 22 in Marion County — but reached by considerably more circuitous Route 214, 12 miles east of Sublimity and 14 miles southeast of Silverton — the park is a 2½-hour drive northwest from Bend. All 10 of its waterfalls may be seen along the 8.7-mile trail that was built in the late 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

It’s a loop of moderate difficulty, with an overall elevation change of 800 feet. There are some steep sections and some muddy areas, but all in all, it can easily be accomplished in half a day by hikers of reasonable fitness, even including the time it takes to stop and gawk at falls.

While there is a smaller area at North Falls, near the Silverton entrance to the park, most hikers park at the expansive South Park Day Use area and go from there. From Lower South Falls, they turn up the North Fork of Silver Creek to see Lower North Falls, Double Falls, Drake Falls, Middle North Falls, Twin Falls, North Falls and Upper North Falls, with a half-mile detour into Winter Falls. It adds up to a great expedition through temperate rainforest.

Rainforest it is. Besides good hiking shoes, rain gear is almost a necessity, as Silver Falls averages about 80 inches of rain a year — twice that of Salem, 20 miles west. An interpretive plaque in the park makes the bold claim that “this rare habitat has more living mass and nutrient resources than any other ecosystem on the planet.”

Indeed, the 9,000-acre state park supports a rich variety of flora and fauna, from black bears and mountain lions to countless insects and birds. While our only large mammal sightings were plentiful black-tailed deer, we were told that eight species of owls live in the park, as do a wide variety of smaller mammals that make tasty meals for the raptors.

The vegetation was as lush as one might imagine. The tree cover ranged from lacy vine maple to giant Douglas firs, mountain hemlocks and Western red cedars, and many of the trees were draped with blankets of hanging moss. The verdant ground cover featured wood sorrel and false Solomon’s seal, trilliums and bleeding hearts, yellow monkey flowers and false lilies of the valley, salmonberries and huckleberries, skunk cabbage and numerous species of ferns, sword, lady and bracken among them.

Depression labor

Silver Falls State Park was born in 1931, when the Oregon State Highway Commission first set aside a piece of land surrounding the luxuriant canyons through which Silver Creek’s twin forks tumble. Three years later, in the midst of the Great Depression, the National Park Service chose Silver Falls for development as a Recreation Demonstration Area.

Although the park service designated 46 RDAs across the country, only two of them were on the West Coast. Its stated goal was restoration of an “area of outstanding natural beauty as close to its original state as possible, then use the land as an outdoor education center for youth programs.”

In fact, the Silver Falls area had been heavily logged at the end of the 19th century, when the small lumber town of Silver Falls City was built atop South Falls. The Friends of Silver Falls, a volunteer group, reports that one local entrepreneur charged admission to the falls, touting such attractions as a daredevil taking a canoe over the cataract. (Some visitors settled for watching cars being pushed over the falls.)

Silverton residents, led by photographer June Drake, began campaigning for park status for Silver Falls at the turn of the 20th century. But the National Park Service turned down their request in 1926 because of the large number of ugly stumps left by the loggers.

Enter the CCC. In 1935, 200 laborers arrived to develop the park. Over the next seven years, until the Second World War called them to new duty, they laid its foundation, building structures, picnic shelters, trails, stairways, bridges and rock walls. They planted trees to replace those destroyed by fire or removed by loggers.

The National Park Service directed that park buildings be erected in its new rustic design style. As with Mount Hood’s Timberline Lodge, built about the same time, the structures were made of logs and stone harvested near the site, allowing them to fit more naturally into the environment.

The most impressive piece of work was the South Falls Lodge, whose beauty was enhanced by contributions from the skilled artisans of the Works Projects Administration. Their carpentry, masonry and metalworking talents went into the building’s hand-built furniture and two huge fireplaces. Today the lodge — open year-round, and serving meals daily from May through October — is the centerpiece of the South Falls Historic District.

Designated in 1983 by the National Register of Historic Places, the district also includes a nature store, where merchandise supports the Friends of Silver Falls and ongoing park maintenance, and a variety of outbuildings.

Exploring Silverton

Although tiny Sublimity (population 2,700) is a few miles closer to Silver Falls, it’s Silverton, 14 miles from the North Falls entrance, that is the park’s gateway community.

Silver Creek runs directly through the heart of Silverton, a town of 9,500. Settled as a mill town in 1854, its 19th-century buildings still back up to the rushing brook. Mac’s Place, a former brothel that is now a casual restaurant and bar, has held its place on Water Street, which parallels the stream, since about 1890, having survived two major fires.

So has the 1891 Wolf Building at the corner of Water and Main streets. Threatened a few years ago by a wrecker’s ball, the two-story brick building was saved by citizen action and reopened to the public in 2007 after a complete restoration of its elaborate cast-iron facade, wood floors, stained-glass windows, ornate chandeliers and other Victorian memories.

A short walk south on Water Street, the 1906 Southern Pacific Railroad Depot has been relocated and converted into the headquarters for the Silverton Chamber of Commerce and visitors’ bureau. Many other downtown buildings date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including the Gothic Revival-style 1889 First Christian Church (Jersey Street between South First and South Second streets).

The town has one comfortable motel, the Silverton Inn and Suites, and two bed-and-breakfast inns, including the Birdwood Inn, where we spent the night. The friendly and talkative hosts are happy to share their knowledge about the state park and the Cascade foothills region. And they’re quick to recommend local restaurants, including the casual Creekside Grill, its deck overlooking Silver Creek, and the Silver Grille, a fine-dining establishment in the heart of downtown.

And then there’s the 80-acre Oregon Garden, on the southwestern edge of town. Created in 2001, it comprises 20 specialty gardens including rose and iris plots, a children’s garden, a water maze and a drought-tolerant garden. The Lewis and Clark Garden displays botanical discoveries recorded by the famous explorers, and the Dinosaur Garden features plants that have survived since prehistory. Tree lovers embrace a conifer garden and a 25-acre grove of white oaks, at least one of them more than 400 years old.

The garden is designed in such a way that plants are blooming in all seasons. From April to October, a motorized tram circles the garden along a paved pathway. After this introduction, visitors may want to take a couple of hours to wander the smaller trails, past fountains and plazas, greenhouses and gazebos.

The Oregon Garden Resort, easily Silverton’s best hotel, has a central lodge with a restaurant, lounge and spa. A short walk away, in a village of mostly six-plex houses, are 103 guest rooms with private decks or patios.

Near the grounds is the Gordon House, the only Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house in the Pacific Northwest open to the public. Wright blueprinted the house in 1957, two years before his death; it was built in Wilsonville in 1964 and moved to Silverton in 2002. Forty-minute tours are offered throughout the year by reservation.

Festive farming

Silverton is surrounded by farming country. Head in any direction from the town and you’ll see broad expanses given over to forage crops, to vineyards, to mustard seed, to Christmas trees; especially Christmas trees.

Route 214 southeast toward the state park is a prime example. At least a dozen individual commercial enterprises exhibit thousands of conifers, primarily noble and Douglas firs, in neat (and sometimes not-so-neat) rows on either side of the highway. Most are young trees, no taller than a man, but some are barely knee-high.

But there are areas where the trees are crushed together and seem to be growing out of control. A small herd of deer emerged from one of these copses as we drove toward Silver Falls one morning, perhaps finding it an ideal hiding place.

In the North Falls vicinity, the state park has a small day-use area and group camp, as well as a creek-side parking lot for an easy quarter-mile walk to serene, 65-foot Upper North Falls or a short steep descent to 136-foot North Falls. The taller falls may also be easily seen from a viewpoint less than a half-mile farther along the highway.

There’s another trailhead at 134-foot Winter Falls, which cascades just below the park road about halfway between North and South Falls, about a mile from each.

South Falls is the hub of most visitor activity. But the park office and registration booth ($5 per vehicle per day) are across the road, near a campground and the Howard Creek Horse Camp. A farther drive upstream leads to the historic Camp Silver Creek youth camp, where generations of young Oregonians have enjoyed summer vacation weeks.

Visitors who want to immerse themselves more thoroughly in the park experience can overnight at the Silver Falls Lodge and Conference Center, a little over a mile south of the park office on Smith Creek, when it hasn’t been fully booked by a group. Thirty-six lodge rooms and cabins, of varying rusticity, are available. Meals are served in a historic dining hall.

The lodge also has a pool and spa for guests, and mountain-bike rentals for enjoying 25 miles of wooded, multi-use trails in the state park. Less adventurous bicyclists enjoy a paved, 4-mile loop with rolling hills, although it doesn’t afford any glimpses of waterfalls.

Dogs, like bikes, are not permitted on most sections of the Trail of Ten Falls. Silver Falls does offer an off-leash exercise area in the South Falls Day-Use Area. But it would be pure folly to coax pets into the grottoes behind South Falls itself.

— Reporter: janderson@bendbulletin.com