Douglas County

View of the lower part of falls.

Whitehorse Falls is the smaller but arguably prettier of the two named waterfalls along the Clearwater River. The falls occur where the river sluices through a narrow trough in rhyolitic bedrock and suddenly crashes 14 feet over a wall into a large pool below. Though the falls are located several miles downstream of Clearwater Falls, there is often less water present in Whitehorse Falls due to the integration of the river in the North Umpqua Hydroelectric system. The flow is consistent all year long, just not in tune with its natural levels nearly as much as it should be.

Access to the waterfall and its trail is only through U.S. Highway 138. The area around the waterfall is surrounded by moss-covered rocks and canopy of old growth Douglas-fir forest.

High up in the Umpqua River drainage, the springfed Clearwater River bubbles out of the ground and starts flowing through placid pools and never ending logjams. The first real interuption in the course of the Clearwater is this exceptionally scenic but not terribly impressive 29 foot cascade. The ground around the falls is permeated with soft soil and thousands of intertwined roots, allowing the river to seap in and out of the ground at will. The result is a waterfall that appears to be springing from the ground. While there is only about 10 feet of legitimate vertical waterfall here, this is one of the few cases where we bend the rules to allow the mossy cascades below the falls to be included as part of the falls, largely because the river is dead calm both above and below, and it is easy to identify where the falls begin and end.

Oregon has many of these old covered bridges. Over time they have been moved and restored. Depending on where you look, I found that we have between 50 and 54 covered bridges in the state. The fall is a great time to do the covered bridge tour around the area. If it's sunny or cloudy or raining you can still get some great shots.

Full view of waterfalls

Steamboat Creek curtains over a wide bench into a calm pool. In the winter the 20 foot falls are rather impressive thanks to the large drainage basin of Steamboat Creek, but the low elevation limits the high flow to only the wettest months, and by May the falls are a shadow of their former self. This would be a slightly more impressive attraction in the summer if a fish ladder, which draws off a majority of the creek, weren't constructed next to the falls. All around the falls are exposed rock slabs.

Deadline Falls, Oregon, is the largest of several small cascades where the North Umpqua River cascades over and through small outcrops of basalt riverbed. The falls are not the most impressive waterfall in the region, and wouldn't usually be an attraction in this neck of the woods, except for the high likelihood of seeing large Salmon leaping the falls as they migrate upstream. From May to October you'll most likely see fish jumping and splashing around in the pools below the falls.

National Creek Falls is yet another among the long list of highly photogenic waterfalls in Oregon. The falls occur where the spring-fed creek diverges around a basalt outcropping and plunges about 40 feet over a jagged ledge in two scenic channels. The grotto below the falls is exceptionally scenic and thriving in greenery, with a small meadow of mosses growing on a flat area just downstream of the falls where Falls Creek merges with National Creek. The falls flow very consistently and are good to visit any time of the year.

Susan Creek Falls is a pretty, 35 foot veil along the waterfall-studded Umpqua River corridor. The falls are accessed via a very easy, well graded trail developed and maintained by the Oregon BLM. Susan Creek Falls is one of those oddball locations that looks a whole lot better in print than it does in person. Powerlines cross Susan Creek directly above the falls, which resulted in clear cutting along the rim of the gorge where the falls are located, so it lacks greenery a bit, but from downstream it looks fine. At stream level the base of the falls is obstructed by the rock formation below the falls, requiring a little creative maneuvering to frame the falls ideally.

Fall Creek Falls is one of the more accessible waterfalls in the North Umpqua corridor. Dropping about 120 feet over 4 tiers, the falls spray into a small amphitheater before cascading down through a very scenic gorge to the Umpqua. The falls consist of four tiers, of approximately 10, 40, 20 and 50 feet - with the uppermost tier only being visible from the top of the falls. This is at the bottom tier, obviously. Though the falls face south, they are well shaded in the morning and evening, but during mid day, the sun will illuminate the entire basin. I had to wait about an hour until the sun moved out of the basin and was just shining through the trees above and hitting the falls.