Ultimate Columbia River Gorge Elopement Guide for 2024-2025

Where is the Columbia River Gorge?
Why Elope in the Columbia River Gorge?
Top 5 Columbia River Gorge Elopement Locations
Legalities of Eloping in the Columbia River Gorge
Best Places to Stay for Your Columbia River Gorge Elopement
10 Fun Ideas for Your Columbia River Gorge Elopement
Columbia River Gorge Elopement Photographer

If you’re looking for a *gorge-ous* elopement location, I’ve got just the place for you 😉 Lol how many times will I use that pun throughout this guide?? The limit does not exist. Anyway, welcome to my Columbia River Gorge elopement guide!!

Get ready to *waterfall* in love with all these breathtaking locations (including 5 different waterfalls, obvi), die over some of the most luscious greenery in the PNW, and realize that you neeeeed to elope here, stat. I’ve got all the deetz you need to elope in the Columbia River Gorge, including the best locations, permit info, places to stay, and a ton more!

Where is the Columbia River Gorge?

First, let’s make sure ya know where the Columbia River Gorge is—and what it is. Is it a gorge? Is it a river? Technically both: it’s a massive river canyon that stretches 80 miles across the PNW, creating a border between Washington to the north and Oregon to the south. The canyon gets up to 4,000 feet deep (you def wouldn’t wanna fall in) and winds west through the Cascade Mountain Range with all sorts of cliffs, ridges, waterfalls, forests, spires, and more incredibly scenery. In fact, it’s aptly named the “Columbia River Gorge Scenic Area” and is the largest designated scenic area in the country! Plus it’s one of the 7 Wonders of Oregon.

If you were to drive from Seattle, it would take you about 3 hours to get to the scenic area, or about 20-30 minutes from Portland (it depends on where in the gorge you’re going, though). So flying into PDX would be your best bet if you’ll be traveling in from outta state!

Why Elope in the Columbia River Gorge?

The photos in this blog post will probablyyyy speak for themselves, but let’s talk about why you’d want to elope in the Columbia River Gorge anyway. I’ll keep it simple for ya with a quick list of the top reasons why the gorge is suchhhh an awesome elopement location + why you might choose it over other places in the PNW!

—The scenery + landscapes are SO diverse: Seriously, the gorge has every type of landscape imaginable, except for the coast/beaches! Cascading waterfalls, towering basalt cliffs, rolling green hills, vast canyons, winding rivers, snow-capped mountains, lush forests. . . literally everywhere you look you’ll find some sort of stunning vista that takes your breath away. I looove when couples elope in the Columbia River Gorge because it’s super easy to get a variety of landscapes + explore different types of scenery, without having to drive a ton between locations! Literally just drive along the scenic highway and you’ll find everything you’ll need!

—It’s close to Portland: Can’t decide between spending time in the big city & heading out into nature for a scenic escape? Good thing you don’t have to!! It’s SO easy to access that city life in Portland from the gorge since it really isn’t too long of a drive; but again, it depends on where in the gorge you’re gonna be eloping. But no matter where, you’ll be able to have an incredible stay out in the mountains, the forest, etc.—then visit Portland for a day or an evening if you’re craving a night out on the town!

—It’s beautiful at any time of year: Summer, fall, and spring are def the best times of year to visit, since that’s when you’ll get the best weather, gorgeous foliage, wildflowers, greenery, etc. But! While there are certain trails and viewpoints that often close off during the winter months, there are usually beautiful spots you can access even when it’s cold out! You might even get to see a super cool (literally) frozen waterfall surrounded by snow and ice-covered trees; the area turns into suchhh a magical winter wonderland.

—It covers parts of both WA & OR: Why not hit up two states instead of one? This isn’t really that important haha, but it’s kinda fun to think that you could cover two different states during your elopement and explore so many different places, just in one trip!

Top 5 Columbia River Gorge Elopement Locations

Ugh it’s impossible to narrow it down to just a fewww Columbia River Gorge elopement locations, but I did my best! There are SO many amazing spots to check out, so don’t worry—you don’t necessarily need to choose just one of these locations. We can explore to your heart’s content 😉 I’ve also included a few more amazing locations in a section further down in this blog, “10 fun things to do in the Columbia River Gorge!”

1. Latourell Falls

Type of location: Waterfall, forest

Ease of access: Easy

Entry fee: None!

Special Use Permit required? Nope!

Pet-friendly? Yes!

First up is Latourell Falls, aka one of the most breathtaking waterfalls in the area! The falls are framed by these gorgeoussss basalt columns, and there’s a ton of luscious greenery everywhere you look, especially in the spring. Latourell Falls is accessible year-round unless there’s a winter storm that prevents you from being able to access the road or the trail, so it’s up to you when you want to visit! Winter is by far the least crowded time of year, which means you won’t have a bunch of other hikers in the background of your photos 🙂

The best part about this waterfall is that it’s literally SO easy to get to; you don’t even have to hike if you don’t want to. No sweat-breaking required 😉 The road to get to the falls is right off the highway, and is super easy to access with just a 2 wheel drive car (unless it’s winter and the conditions are super icy/snowy). Once you arrive, you just need to park in the lot, walk along a path through the trees for a few minutes, and then bam—you’ll already be at the base of the falls! BUT if you do want a bit of a longer trek, you can follow the Latourell Falls Loop Hike, which is an easy, 2.4 mile round trip hike that takes you to the upper part of the falls. Either way, you’ll get to experience a really breathtaking waterfall that’s a must-visit during your time in the gorge!

2. Bridal Veil Falls

Type of location: Waterfall, forest, river view

Ease of access: Moderate

Entry fee: None!

Special Use Permit required? Only for groups of 50 or more (info here)

Pet-friendly? Yeah!

Bridal Veil Falls is another gorge (double meaning there) waterfall located right off the Columbia River Highway, and is actually a state scenic viewpoint. There are two ways to explore this area: the Lower Trail, which is a steep, 0.3-mile descent to the base of the waterfall itself, and then the Overlook Trail, which is a 0.5-mile paved loop that takes you to amazing views of the Columbia River. I recommend doing both if you have the time, since each one rewards you with its own unique scenery! It only takes about 10 minutes to get to the falls, so you won’t need to plan for a big hike or anything; just enjoy the amazing scenery around you while you walk and then try to pick your jaw up off the floor once you get to Bridal Veil Falls itself!

The two-tiered waterfall flows underneath the Old Columbia River Gorge Highway’s 1914 bridge, and cascades over this magical, moss-covered basalt. I’m obsessed with the massive rock at the base of the falls, it’s sooo perfect for epic elopement portraits in front of the falls!! The trail to the falls is accessible year-round as long as weather permits, and the surrounding greenery + foliage is especially beautiful in the spring, summer, and early fall.