MULTNOMAH COUNTY, Ore. — It is a beautiful sight to behold. Multnomah Falls is a popular attraction in the Columbia River Gorge.
But if you want to drive yourself there be ready for congestion, especially on the busiest days and hours.
This is the third year the Oregon Department of Transportation is trying to address the parking and traffic issues with an online permit system through recreation.gov.
On a Thursday there were plenty of times to choose from and it’s only a two dollar processing fee to get a permit.
“You know if our friends hadn’t said anything we’d be clueless,” said Kate, visiting the area from California’s Bay Area.
Not everyone knows about the system, especially tourists like Kate and partner John.
“It’s fairly confusing and it’s like it’s gonna be one-at-a-time permits and I guess you’re going online to do it," John said. "And maybe they need to get the word out more."
If you show up without a permit, there's a small sign letting you know about it. But there's also nothing keeping you from taking a parking space.
It’s not until you get to the tunnel to cross closer to the falls and lodge that your permit is checked. Plenty of people were getting on their phones, to do so with help from parking lot ambassadors at the tunnel entrance.
But on busier days like Memorial Day weekend, the traffic backed up anyway.
There was an additional problem: ODOT’s offramp gate, designed to close when the lot is too full, was not working. That allowed traffic to back up dangerously to the freeway. That’s been fixed, but it was bad timing on a holiday weekend, to say the least.
"The issue is there’s a limited number of parking spots and a bunch of people who want them," said Taylor Marean.
Marean runs WaterfallShuttle.com, one of several private and public transit options to get people to Multnomah Falls car-less. Shuttles or public transit are a great way to go, but Marean sees a bad situation in the parking lot for drivers.
"There’s no traffic control, there’s no flagging there’s no services," Marean said. "This is Oregon’s most popular natural attraction, what the heck?"
ODOT hopes that as the permit season goes on, things will smooth out. But some wonder if checking for permits after you’re parked makes the most sense.
Wendy Hurley of Camas got a permit ahead of time, but agrees the permit checking process seems backwards.
"It's best to get checked prior. I think it would make the process easier on a busy day, yeah," Hurley said.