By Fred Delkin

 Anyone doubting that time can heal the landscape scars so common from loggers’ attention to Oregon treescapes should visit Silver Falls State Park and marvel at how the years can banish ugliness created by greedy timber harvesting and even erase the devastation of major forest fires.

In 1865, the Silverton Fire, largest known in Oregon’s history, laid waste to a million forested acres in the current park’s vicinity.  By 1888, harvestable trees were regaining abundance; and a plat map was filed for Silver Falls City to become a logging and mill base.  A population of several hundred was quickly established to cut and process the surrounding forest and this situation continued for some fifty years until what is now park had yielded virtually all of its timber resources, which included some of the largest cedar trees in western Oregon.  An internal National Park Service memo generated in 1926
dashed a proposal to consider the Silver Falls area as a park, with these words:

 If the region were still virgin there is no doubt its merit would warrant
…consideration as to national park value, but unfortunately the region has 
heard the sound of the axe for many years, a large majority of the big trees 
having been felled…worse, there are large areas of stark stumpage staring one in the face from every angle.  Another memo generated in 1935 declared the prevalence of cut-over lands…is such as to destroy that feeling of nature undisturbed that is so essential to a national park.

Fortunately, Douglas Fir has more ambition than Cedar, and has created a second growth forest that today looks almost virginal.  Forward  thinkers of the ‘30’s looked at the spectacular topography and water resources of what is now Silver Falls State Park and envisioned a renewed forest complementing the steep cliffs, deep-cut canyons and dashing waterfalls that awe today’s visitors.  

State acts upon a vision

In 1931, the state of Oregon, disdaining the pessimism of the national park service, acquired the first 90 acres of the current park from private landholders who saw the land’s economic value as virtually destroyed.  The area around North Falls and South Falls was also converted to park that same year.  On July 23, 1933, Silver Falls State Park was dedicated.  Federal depression-recovery Civilian Conservation Corps labor and funds were utilized to enhance park facilities in the mid-thirties.  In 1942, the feds turned the CCC investments over to the state and in 1948 a final major piece of property reserved for decades by a national park service that believed its own memos was added to Oregon state park holdings.

Thus, today, one can drive from the rolling, open farmlands surrounding the 8,700 acres of Silver Falls Park into a heavily forested recreational wonderland…an asset that easily deserves the prestigious status of national park, but is the crown jewel of Oregon’s state park system.  A Ten Falls trail provides the hiker with a memorable scenic experience, while viewpoints along the park road allow the lazy to enjoy some of the hydro wonders.

Park facilities include a rustic but well-appointed conference center, overnight campgrounds and trails dedicated to horseback and mountain bike use.

The park is only a matter of driving minutes from the population-strewn I-5 corridor and just east of Salem…but a world apart from signs of urban development and highway traffic flow.

So, next time you cringe at clear-cut views too prevalent in western Oregon, schedule a short trip to Silver Falls and rejoice in the renewable energy of Mother Nature.