WATERFALLS IN THE CASCADES OF NORTHERN OREGON

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WITH A FEW OTHERS LOWER DOWN THROWN IN FOR GOOD MEASURE

North Falls
Inside the veil of North Falls.

After covering waterfalls I enjoy in Southwestern Washington and the Coast Range of northwestern Oregon, we move east of the Willamette Valley to mostly waterfalls in the northern Cascade Mountains of Oregon. Again, no way these lists are anything close to comprehensive and others may have other favorites. There is a two hour limit from Portland to help limit the number of waterfalling excursions. Also recent wildfires limit access to many waterfalls. Abiqua and Butte Falls in the foothills above Scotts Mill are prime examples. One waterfall making the list here – Shellburg – is also presently inaccessible. I included it only because I visited the falls just before the fires and wanted to show some of its former magic.

So, off to the northern Cascades – the name somehow appropriate – of Oregon to visit our first waterfalls. Links take you to the Northwest Waterfall Survey pages which give the waterfalls ratings 0-100. The highest rated waterfall in Oregon is Multnomah Falls with a rating of 89.92, so you have something to compare other waterfalls here to.

Many of these Northern Oregon waterfalls lie in the western foothills of the Cascades, best visited in winter or spring when they flow at their best.

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NEW SEASON – HAMILTON MOUNTAIN SHINING IN THE GORGE

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hamilton mtn
Looking above to Hamilton Mountain with Little Hamilton jutting out to the right from where the trail crosses underneath the Bonneville Power lines just above the trailhead.

A new year, a new season to get out once again and explore. While the Covid pandemic lurches on, people have begun to venture out again to discover what lies beyond their living room. Vaccinations are reaching into ever greater numbers of folk. Hamilton Mountain was calling to me.

SPRINGTIME IN THE GORGE

This hike was special to me on several counts. First, having hiked many of the trails in the Columbia River Gorge, I never walked this path. Second, a new mountain corgi to introduce to the mountain terrain. Third, Hamilton Mountain was the first moderately serious hike I attempted after suffering ruptures of both anterior medial collateral ligaments in a knee already arthritic from years of heavy use following an ancient football injury. So, knee brace in place, with trekking poles in hand along with one leashed mountain corgi, it was time to climb high once more.

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FORT SIMCOE – SHORT STORY PAUSE TO THE STORM

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two pound cannon
Looks like a two-pound cannon, one of two on the east side of the Parade Ground with Officer’s Row on the opposite side. Artillery would have consisted more probably of M1841 mountain howitzers.

Of the many military posts erected by the US Army during the 19th century, few remain as well preserved as the collection of buildings found here in the middle of the Yakama Nation at Fort Simcoe. The post was only manned for three years before the fort was abandoned; the men sent north to Fort Colville.

Brevet Captain George McClellan’s party, in 1853, found traces of gold along the upper reaches of the Naches or Yakima Rivers. They searched for a railroad route over the Cascades, something McClellan continually stressed when meeting with Natives from the local Yakama tribes.

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WATERFALLS NOT OF THE GORGE – COAST RANGE WESTERN OREGON

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PHEASANT CREEK FALLS
The double drop of Pheasant Creek Falls 124 feet altogether. One of the many Coast Range waterfalls.

The last post covered waterfalls I enjoy in southwestern Washington, mostly outside of the Columbia River Gorge, so now we move south of the River to waterfalls in the Coast Range of northwestern Oregon. Again, no way these lists are anything close to comprehensive and others may have other favorites. Plus, we have the two hour limit from Portland to help limit the waterfalling excursions. So, off we go to the Coast Range of Oregon to visit our first waterfalls. Links take you to the Northwest Waterfall Survey pages which give the waterfalls ratings 0-100. The highest rated waterfall in Oregon is Multnomah Falls with a rating of 89.92, so you have something to compare other waterfalls here to.

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RE-FOCUSING THE ARMY EASTWARD ON THE COLUMBIA – FORT DALLES

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A restored version of James Madison Alden's tryptich view over Fort Dalles. Fort Dalles Museum.
A restored version of James Madison Alden’s triptych view over Fort Dalles. Fort Dalles Museum.

Fort Dalles was one of the original forts set up by the Army as it came west after the 1846 treaty with Great Britain solidifying borders on the 49th parallel. Before 1855, the fort was a small fort with room for one or two companies of troops. The Yakama War changed that. From the middle of 1856 until the beginning of 1859, the fort became one of the Army’s main centers in the Northwest. Home for the Ninth Regiment, Fort Dalles became the jump-off point for campaigns, interior explorations, road, and fort building and a supply depot for all these activities.

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BLOCKHOUSE GUARDIAN ON THE COLUMBIA – FORT CASCADES

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Steamboats making for the Cascade Locks near the Upper Cascades later in the 19th century. Fort Lugenbeel was just around the corner to the left.

Fort Cascades served as the main post comprising several blockhouses set up to defend the vitally important transportation corridor along the Columbia River through one of the treacherous points along the river.

The Oregon Trail was a long and perilous route. Perhaps the most difficult section lay almost at the trail’s end as it made its way through the Cascade Mountains to the promised lands of the Willamette Valley. Once the Trail dropped down out of the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon, it followed near the Columbia River. It was possible to float your wagons down much of the river, but most kept to the road leading up and down further to the south of the Columbia. Crossing the John Day and Deschutes rivers were minor difficulties compared to the last difficulty lying ahead in the mountains.

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PRESIDENTIAL MAGIC OF THE WHITE MOUNTAINS

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Rocky path with cairns along the way to Mt Adams from Mt Jefferson.

The White Mountains of New Hampshire are seen by many as the pinnacle of mountain ranges in the Northeast and the eastern Seaboard, in general, no malice intended towards the Blue Ridge, Smoky or Adirondack ranges. Topped by Mount Washington – 6,289 feet – the range is historic. The mountain is almost the same height as its namesake in the Olympic Mountains of Washington State – 6,260 feet. That peak being a bit more difficult to climb. Rising above all other peaks in the White Mountains are the Presidents.

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FORT HOSKINS AND YAMHILL – WHITE EYES TURNED TO THE COAST

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fort hoskins
Looking down on the former site of Fort Hoskins, literally at the edge of valley and mountain.

Fort Hoskins and Yamhill were two of the earliest uses of the U.S. Army in the newly acquired Northwest lands gained in the middle 1840’s. The sites, long abandoned, have undergone extensive archaeological excavations. Protected as public parks today, a visit gives a fascinating insight into the antebellum Regular Army and the interactions between Native Americans and newly-arrived white settlers intent on occupying new grounds.

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SOUTHWESTERN WASHINGTON WATERFALLS – HIDDEN IN THE FORESTS

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East Fork of the Lewis River tumbles over Lucia Falls in the summer.

When people visit waterfalls in the Portland area they normally are drawn magnetically to the Columbia River Gorge. The magnificence of the Gorge is without a doubt. The State’s highest and best known waterfalls are here complete with a wonderful trail system through an everchanging natural setting – albeit, a little beat up from fires presently. But there are other lesser known waterfalls in Oregon while across the Columbia, Southwestern Washington sports its own waterfalls outside of the Gorge well worth a visit, as well.

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STORMIN’ ON THE CENTRAL OREGON COAST

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cape perpetua
Wave churns into the Good Fortune Cove near Cook’s Chasm with the headland of Cape Perpetua rising beyond.

The Oregon Coast is a scenic wonderland long discovered by tourists. Many tourists take in the long coastline in one long excursion up or down US 101. While continually spectacular, that is like Americans “seeing” Europe in one or two weeks. The history and geography of the coast is better taken in parts. Clatsop County in the north is very different from Lincoln in the middle and Coos and Curry Counties in the south. This trip we travelled to the Central Oregon Coast – Lincoln County, basing ourselves in the county seat of Newport. 

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