Deeply scarred by a lumbering company, June D. Drake's passionate campaign to preserve the Silver Creek area stretched out for twenty years. Thanks to Drake's efforts, President Franklin D. Roosevelt finally designated the Oregon beauty as a Recreational Demonstration Area in 1934. Planting trees, establishing trails and erecting park buildings became a Depression Era works project for the Civilian Conservation Corps. Today, Silver Falls State Park is one of the state's most popular recreation areas.
     A web of trails leads to all of the park's waterfalls, requiring a hike of almost nine miles. It’s not necessary to take the entire loop trail, as there are plenty of beautiful waterfalls and more than one way to return to the trailhead. Beginning at South Falls Lodge, the trail leads in an easterly direction along the rim. In little over a mile and a half, fall’s visitors will approach the North Falls Overlook. From the overlook, it's a short distance to North Falls. A quarter mile spur leads off to the Upper North Falls. During the winter months, as was captured in this frosty view of Upper North Falls, you may have the site all to yourself. But in the summer months, this park attracts an enthusiastic crowd. The Canyon Trail, nationally recognized as one of America's top waterfall hikes, leads to ten remarkable waterfalls. Here in a fully recovered temperate rain forest, among the Douglas fir, cedar and hemlock, park guests marvel over this exhilarating collection of Oregon's Natural Wonders.