Willamette Falls Scenic Overlook

I kept looking and looking for this listing as rest stop, roadside vista point, I-​205 «anything,» and then some … I was wondering if I needed to add a listing. I guess not. I’ve driven past here countless times and have stopped about a handful of times.
Each time has been on one of those rare sunny days in the metro area. On such occasions, Mount Hood is visible from this viewpoint which is an easy on-​off from northbound I-​205 only, between the 10^th Street ramp with the fast food outlets and the Highway 43 ramp with the library and the more upscale stores and restaurants, and where northbound I-​205 skirts the top of the bluff following the Willamette River which, incidentally, is one of those rare northward flowing rivers.
Also, you learn something new every day. What did I learn today? That Willamette Falls can be seen from here. I guess I never looked down. I always looked across the chasm to Mount Hood. This place also has a humorous dimension. If driving by on the freeway or slowing down to pull into this vista point, you are bound to see someone pointing. In New York or Chicago, people are pointing at skyscrapers. Here, people are pointing at Mount Hood, as in «Ooooohhhhh.» However, some 80+% of the time, Mount Hood is not visible.
Lastly, if you are a tourist and are looking forward to emptying your bladder, you can forget about that because all there is here is the view, a masonry wall to keep you from tumbling down the bluff, some type of explanatory marker, and some trash cans. That’s what the 10^th Street ramp’s fast food outlets were for.

Multnomah Falls gets all the attention. Hoards of tour buses, hikers, magazine articles and postcards. I know, it’s really, really pretty.
But, if you are into history and statistics, Willamette Falls has it beat in a number of areas. As a local, even I tend to take it for granted. So I was floored on a recent tour of the area when I was informed that Willamette Falls is the largest falls (by water volume) in the West. Second only to Niagara (yep, that gets a lot of press too) in the United States. And 18^th largest in the world.
There are only two official viewpoints, one on either side of the river. This location is the easiest for most visitors because it is on I-​205 northbound, between West Linn and Oregon City. This is solely a viewpoint, not a rest stop, so there are no facilities.
You are on a bluff, so it is an overview (not a close view) of the falls, with the added bonus of Mt. Hood in the background on a clear day. This is one of my favorite times of the year to visit because of all the fall colors.
Even though the falls is impressive and located by one of Oregon’s older settlements, Oregon City, it isn’t the most beautiful thing you’ll ever see. Mostly because of the old paper mills and decaying industrial area surrounding the falls. I don’t foresee many postcards in its future, although the area does retain a bit of eerie charm.
The Army Corps of Engineers operated the Willamette Locks for almost a hundred years and would open it once a year for special events to get close to the falls by boat. Due to budget cuts, the locks are currently closed. With the reopening of the Arch City Bridge, you can get a nice view closer to water level and the viewpoint on Highway 99 is the closest to the falls, although probably my least favorite of the three locations.