Abiqua Falls Engagement | Kamika + Aaron
Abiqua Falls may be my favorite waterfall I’ve ever seen in the Pacific Northwest. It’s a great spot for an engagement shoot or elopement but is certainly for the adventurous spirit. I’ve been a handful of times hiking with my dogs but this was actually my first time officially doing a shoot here. At certain times in the winter the water is so high that you actually cannot get down to where you see the couple in these photos. And in the summer sometimes there’s very little water flowing but it’s warm enough outside to swim and take a dip!
The road to Abiqua Falls is quite rough. I drive a Subaru and I generally pull off about half way down the road and just walk to avoid getting stuck. If you have a 4×4 or high clearance vehicle, depending on recent weather, you are generally okay. My best advice is to download the Alltrails map beforehand as well as read the instructions because the start of the trail can be confusing if you’ve never been. If you want to do a shoot here with me I will of course guide you the entire way! The trail itself is usually muddy, extremely steep (with ropes to help you), but pretty short in terms of mileage. I recommend that you hike in hiking shoes/clothes you don’t care about and change at the falls.
Abiqua Falls takes my breath away every single time I go because you are walking along a stunning PNW forest river with lush greens everywhere you look and suddenly you turn a corner to see a monstrous waterfall surrounded by dramatic rock faces. I loved the outfits that Kamika + Aaron chose for this shoot because the neutral earth tones paired so perfectly with the backdrop. Kamika did change into a bright fun dress for the second half which was also a beautiful pop of color!
This is just one of a million wild examples of how special the Pacific Northwest is and how beautiful the hidden corners of it are. If you are looking for other waterfall engagement inspiration here is an engagement from Horsetail Falls or a proposal from Wahkeena Falls!
