Oregon waterfalls – BOOTS on the TRAIL

Seldom “Seen” Falls (Oregon) 21-Apr-2020

2020-04-212020-08-01Posted in Hiking, Southern OregonTagged Day Hiking, Hiking, Lake of the Woods Oregon, Oregon waterfalls, Seldom Creek Falls Oregon, Southern Oregon3 Comments

Sometime in early 2019 we learned of a small (30-foot high) waterfall on Seldom Creek near Lake of the Woods. There were even a few pictures of it on the web gushing heartily. Since it was only a short ways off Highway 140, we swung by for a quick visit in May 2019 after a nice hike at Spence Mountain. After a little wandering through the woods we came upon the falls – or rather the large trickle that passed for them. No gushing, hearty or otherwise, was observed. Saddened, but not discouraged, we vowed to try again. This is how obsessions start…

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Golden and Silver Falls (Oregon Coast) 10-May-2019

2019-05-102022-01-31Posted in Hiking, Oregon CoastTagged Coos Bay Oregon, Day Hiking, Golden and Silver Falls State Natural Area Oregon, Golden Falls Oregon, Hiking, Oregon waterfalls, Silver Falls Oregon2 Comments

The Golden and Silver Falls State Natural Area has to be among the smallest and most obscure properties in the state park system. But the two waterfalls it was created to protect were reported as magnificent, so we had to see them for ourselves. We were not disappointed. This area is 24 miles back in the hills east of Coos Bay and we stopped off there on our way to Reedsport. There are three trails here: one each to the base of each falls and one that visits both falls. We started with the trail above Silver Creek to the base of Silver Falls, which free-falls for 223 feet, then cascades another 36 feet down into the creek’s narrow canyon.

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Canyon Falls Trail (Jacksonville Forest) 21-Mar-2019

2019-03-212022-01-31Posted in Hiking, Southern OregonTagged Canyon Falls Trail Oregon, Day Hiking, Hiking, Jacksonville Forest Park, Jacksonville Oregon, Oregon waterfalls, Southern Oregon

Today was a nice day wedged between necessary business up in Portland and incoming weather. A conference call was scheduled for the afternoon. But that left the morning free. So, not wishing to miss a photon of sunshine, Plan A was explore around Mount Isabelle. Alas, its access road still had sufficient snow on it to defeat even 4WD. You switch on the 4WD and give it a go. Then, as the tires spin fruitlessly while the truck drifts toward the edge of the narrow road, you switch on commonsense and ask yourself: How long to I want to be stuck here waiting for a tow? Since the answer to that was “not at all,” Plan B became doubling-back and doing a short, consolation hike in Jacksonville Forest Park.

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Granite Falls (Jacksonville Forest) 07-Mar-2019

2019-03-072022-01-31Posted in Hiking, Southern OregonTagged Day Hiking, Granite Falls Oregon, Hiking, Jacksonville Forest Park, Jacksonville Oregon, Oregon waterfalls, Southern Oregon1 Comment

Tiny Granite Falls nestles high in a side canyon along the Pipsissewa Trail in Southern Oregon’s Jacksonville Forest Park. Despite the many times we’ve hiked in the park, and along this particular trail, we’ve never seen these falls as other than dry or just dampness on the rock. So when Glenn (Tablerocktrekker) let us know that Granite, thanks to our thus far pretty wet winter, was actually filled with water, we had to go see it. As an added bonus, he revealed that a new trail 🙂 – the Knobcone Pine Trail – had just opened near the falls.

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Lost Creek Falls (Jackson County, Oregon) 14-Apr-2018

2018-04-142022-04-10Posted in Hiking, Oregon, Southern OregonTagged Ashland Oregon, BLM, Bureau of Land Management, Day Hiking, Hiking, Lost Creek Falls Oregon, Lost Lake Research Natural Area, Oregon, Oregon waterfalls, Southern Oregon

I had heard about these falls a while ago, but a recent side-trip to them by the Ashland Hiking Group finally motivated me to go see them for myself (while The LovedOne was busy with library duty). These 80-foot tall falls (also called Bybee Falls or Lost Falls or Secret Falls) are located in a 150 to 200-foot deep canyon about 0.8 miles upstream from Lost Lake. There are 19 “Lost” lakes in Oregon and this is one of them. It is not, however, the immensely popular (and accessible) Lost Lake near Mount Hood, nor is it Lost Creek Lake, the huge reservoir on the nearby Rogue River. No, it’s just a small, hard-to-reach lake that was formed thousands of years ago by a landslide that obstructed the natural flow of Lost Creek. Today it, and the falls, sit within the Lost Lake Research Natural Area (RNA) administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

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