Guy W. Talbot State Park, State park with waterfall trail near Portland, United States.
Guy W. Talbot State Park covers 153 hectares in Multnomah County, Oregon, along the Historic Columbia River Highway. Its main feature is Latourell Falls, where Latourell Creek drops 75 metres in free fall over a moss-covered rock cliff. A 140-metre path leads from the parking area to the base of the falls, and a picnic area stands among old Lawson cypresses and Douglas firs.
The property was originally the summer home of the Talbot family and was donated to Oregon in 1929. Afterward, workers rebuilt and expanded the site between 1933 and 1935 with trails, picnic areas, and other public facilities.
A legend of the Native Americans of the Columbia River Gorge says the wife of the coyote god Speelyai was turned into Latourell Falls when she tried to leave him. The falls and the land around them belonged to Portland industrialist Guy Webster Talbot, who kept a summer house here. His great-grandson David Talbot Dimon still lives in Oregon and continues to support the park.
A 140-metre path leads from the parking area to the foot of Latourell Falls. The picnic ground sits in the shade of old Lawson cypresses and Douglas firs. The park is set slightly off the main route, so it is rarely crowded. The adjoining George W. Joseph State Natural Area borders the park.
The Historic Columbia River Highway descends from Crown Point through the Figure-Eight Loops, a run of horseshoe curves built to "develop distance" and keep the grade low. The loops lie within the park's western stretch, which reaches to the Crown Point State Scenic Corridor.
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