Hidden away in the Coast Mountains of Coos County is a small state Park preserving two of Oregon’s more spectacular waterfall treasures – Golden and Silver Falls.  The two falls are among the highest and most dramatic found west of the Cascades.  Hiding at the end of a long road which gets narrower and wilder as you travel back into the mountains, the park is one of Oregon’s lonelier state parks.  Drive to the road’s end and magic begins.

The car park is big enough for maybe ten cars with small pit toilets available.  The state park is for day use only with no campsites.  Old growth conifers are on one side of the car park and myrtlewoods are on the other.  Myrtlewood groves are found up along the Millicoma River and Glenn Creek canyons with a park downstream devoted to them.

SILVER FALLS

There are three trails here.  Start with the short trail up to Silver Falls.  The path follows an old road going up the Silver Creek canyon.  In a third of a mile, almost a half kilometer, Silver Falls entertains dropping 223 feet with a continuing 36 feet of cascades down a shelf into the canyon beyond.  Northwest Waterfall Survey gives the falls a rating of 53.35 – Multnomah Falls, Oregon’s highest rated falls gains an 89.92 rating while South Falls at Silver Creek Falls State Park near Salem gets a 67.91 rating. 

360 view at the base of Silver Falls with the mountain corgi. Click and hold with the mouse for full 360 effect.

fourth place?

In Coos County, that is good for only fourth place, but subjective ratings are totally dependent on when you witness them.  Silver Creek can probably almost dry up by late August, but March and April, this is truly magic.

The falls, discovered after Golden, received its name in keeping with the metallic imagery.

The old road heading up Silver Creek crossed on an old bridge long gone.  You can tell where the bridge was by the change in the trail as it becomes a rough foot track to the falls’ base.  After the bridge, the road continued up to the top of Golden Falls and is part of the third trail.  The road created in 1901, stayed until 1958 when the last homesteaders living above Golden Falls moved away.

GOLDEN FALLS

Returning to the small car park, cross the bridge over Silver Creek and walk up a quarter mile – 0.42 kilometers – to Golden Falls.  The trail ends well below the falls.  You get an okay view of the falls, but a scamper trail continues.  This path requires a bit of climbing, leave your howling mountain corgi tied up below.  Class 3 to 4 on a couple moves, takes you to the base of the falls.  Northwest Waterfall Survey ups its rating here to 62.64, highest rating for Coos County and the entire Coast Range.

Golden Falls drops some 254 feet making it the second highest in the Coast Range after Munson Creek.  The name, while appropriate, remembers Dr. C. B. Golden, the first Grand Chancellor of the Oregon Knights of Pythias.  The Knights of Pythias was an extremely popular late 19^th early 20^th century fraternal lodge dating to 1864.  Popular here in Coos County, as well, there are no lodges still existing in the county anymore.

Trail end below Golden Falls. Note the scramble path going up and into the trees. Climbing with rocks and branches providing belay points. Click and hold with the mouse for full 360 effect.

Even if the falls is named after a man, the word “Golden” is apropos.  Climb up to the base and see the “golden” power of the falls.

LAST TRAIL

There is a third trail which takes off to the left after crossing Silver Creek.  The path moves up the east side of Silver Creek canyon to the point where the bridge crossed over near the base of the falls.  You then follow the old road up to the top of Golden Falls.  The road continued over the mountains to Loon Lake and Scottsburg on the Umpqua River.  That road served homesteaders who lived in the valleys above the falls.  Scottsburg was better suited for travel being the upriver terminus for steamboats on the Umpqua River.  It was actually closer than going downriver to Allegany and onto Coos Bay.

SEASONS

Visit the falls in winter or fall for the best impression.  Silver Falls can dwindle later on because of the small drainage area.  Glenn Creek, tumbling over Golden Falls, does not dry up, but it can diminish significantly come late August.

ACCESS

The journey to the falls represents a large part of the visit.  From the south side of Coos Bay, moving south on US 101, turn left onto Oregon highway 241, the Coos River Highway, signed for “Allegany”.  With few signs along the way noting the highway number, look closely at the map before coming out.  Follow signs to “Allegany” and occasionally, “Golden and Silver Falls State Park”.  The official state highway runs to Nesika County Park on the East Fork of the Millicoma River, 18.94 miles out.  The road continues as a county road to the park beyond, becoming gravel for the last four miles and eventually a single lane affair.  The road is easy to travel in a passenger car but be careful of oncoming traffic.

You already passed a small park devoted to the myrtlewood trees growing along the way.  Those groves are found all the way to the state park along the river and eventually along Glenn Creek.

The road was closed in 2016 by storms and an extra 1.5 miles on foot was needed to reach the park.  Thanks to the help of a local farmer, the road gains the park once again.  Figure on about 27 miles from Coos Bay to the trailhead.