Tumalo Falls Trail Hiking Guide
Tumalo Falls is the waterfall most Bend visitors see first: a short walk from the end of Forest Road 4603 to a view of Tumalo Creek pouring over a cliff, with the North Fork Trail continuing upstream to Double Falls. It works for kids, visiting relatives and anyone who wants a big payoff for little effort. Here is what to know about parking, dogs and the winter gate.
Permit: Tumalo Falls Day Use Area is a Deschutes National Forest fee site: $5 per vehicle per day, or display a Northwest Forest Pass ($30 annual), a $5 day pass or digital day pass, or an Interagency (America the Beautiful) pass. No permit is needed for the walk itself.
Overlook, Upper Viewpoint and Double Falls
AllTrails maps the out-and-back to Double Falls at 2.1 miles with 318 feet of gain, rated easy and taking most people about an hour. If you only want the falls, AllTrails' shorter version to the falls and the upper overlook is 0.6 miles with 141 feet of climbing. Hikers who keep going on the North Fork Trail pass a string of smaller cascades; AllTrails lists that longer outing at 6.3 miles and 1,036 feet. The Forest Service doesn't post a mileage for the falls walk on its day-use page.
Parking at the End of FR 4603
From Bend the Forest Service routes you 11.6 miles west on Skyliners Road, then 2.6 miles on Forest Road 4603 to the day-use area. The lot is small, fills early and often sits at overflow on busy days, and the agency enforces a 27-foot vehicle length limit there. Watch for no-parking signs on one side of the entrance road; that lane has to stay open for emergency vehicles. There are vault toilets but no drinking water, so fill bottles in town.
Where Dogs Can and Can't Go
This trailhead sits on the edge of the Bend Municipal Watershed, which supplies the city's water. The Forest Service bans dogs, stock, bikes and camping inside the watershed all year, and its watershed map shows the Bridge Creek Trail heading south from the falls as hiker-only. The North Fork Trail to the falls and Double Falls is drawn outside that boundary, so leashed dogs can come on this route. Keep them on a leash around the picnic area and turn back rather than wander onto the Bridge Creek side.
Bikes on the North Fork
Mountain bikers share the North Fork Trail, but the Forest Service makes it uphill only for bikes, so riders should never come at you from above. Step aside on the narrow sections when someone is grinding up behind you. The same trail continues into a network that links to the Flagline and Swampy areas, which is why you'll see riders here well into fall.
Snow, the Gate and Forest Work
Forest Road 4603 is not plowed. After snow arrives the Forest Service locks the gate for the season, and the falls are then a ski, snowshoe or hike from Skyliners Sno-Park, which the agency puts about three miles east of the falls on marked trails. Separate from the falls trail, the Forest Service closed the Tumalo Ridge Trail from Swede Shelter north in early October 2026 for thinning, and it warns of log trucks crossing roads west of Bend.
Hiking tips for Tumalo Falls Trail
- Arrive before mid-morning on summer and fall weekends; the lot fills early.
- Leave trailers and long RVs in Bend; vehicles over 27 feet are not allowed at the trailhead.
- Bring water from town; there is none at the day-use area.
- Keep dogs on the North Fork Trail and off the Bridge Creek Trail inside the watershed.
- Expect mountain bikers climbing toward you; the North Fork is uphill only for bikes.
Nearby trails to explore
- Tumalo Mountain Trail
- Green Lakes Trail (Three Sisters)
- Pilot Butte Nature Trail
Hike this trail with TrailMates
Tumalo Falls is an easy outing that suits a mixed group, and carpooling eases the small lot. Use TrailMates to find Bend hikers heading up Skyliners Road. Download TrailMates on the App Store or Google Play to join a group.