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Umpqua National Forest

Name: Umpqua National Forest
Rating: 3.00

Type: Trail

Length: 500.00 Miles

Elevation Gain: N/A

Cost: Free

Rating:

(3.00)5

Difficulty: 2point5stars

(2.80)

Solitude:

(3.20)

ADA Accessible: N/A

Bikes Allowed: N/A

Dogs Allowed: N/A

Interpretive Guide: No

City: Toketee Falls

County: Douglas

More Information: More Info

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Photos

The very top of Shadow Falls. From this point you can completely hear the thundering waters. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

At the .8 mile point this is what Shadow Falls looks like. Do the extra quarter mile or so to get to the base. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

The jumble of boulders and logs beneath the falls made for contorted paths the creek has to follow. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

The balancing rock here sported its own lawn of ferns and mosses. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

Crossing Cavitt Creek is simple with the help of this bridge on the trail. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

There is lush vegetation along the trail. Some of that moisture these ferns love was in the trail itself. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

The sliver view of Shadow Falls near its base. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

Toketee Falls and the pool of water into which it empties. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

These potholes in the river reside about half way up the trail. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

A more zoomed in view of Toketee Falls from the viewing platform. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

The viewing platform at the end of the trail provides the best view of the falls. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

Looking up the North Umpqua River valley from the trail. (Photo by Austin Explorer)

Only showing last 12 photos. View All Photos

Log Entries

Shadow Falls
By Austin Explorer on 6/9/2022
Rating: 3stars

Difficulty: 4stars

Solitude:

Distance: 2.20 Miles Duration: 1 hour, 38 minutes

On our final hike in Oregon, Coppertone and I chose this hike for its proximity to Wolf Creek Falls. It required driving over several miles of logging roads with some potholes to contend with closer to the trailhead. This remoteness probably accounts for the fact that we didn't see another soul on the trail.

This was among the muddier of the hikes we'd done in Oregon. At times we grabbed some nearby fallen tree debris to use as "stepping stones" to get through the more troublesome spots.

The official Thundering Waters brochure claims a .8 mile hike to the falls. We found that to be true, if you count it as the top of the falls. The trail continues for about another quarter mile and descends to the falls' base. It's worth the extra steps to visit.

The trail ends at the base and for its size the falls are a bit attenuated in volume. The reason is that the base of the falls is largely enclosed somewhat is a small grotto with a narrow keyhole opening leading downstream. There's plenty noise and mist, but it's strangely muted.

On our way back to the trailhead we stopped at the top of the falls we had passed on the way down. We ventured closer to the very edge of the falls top and you could really hear the waters' roar there. What had been minimized somewhat by the rock below was now quite evident.

The hike's length of 2.2 miles is not that long, but our legs were feeling it after a solid week of hiking.

Clearwater Falls
By Austin Explorer on 6/8/2022
Rating: 3stars

Difficulty: 3stars

Solitude:

Distance: 0.90 Mile Duration: 45 minutes

Coppertone and I ended up at the "wrong" trailhead for this short hike. There are two campgrounds on opposite sides of the Clearwater River. We ended up parking at the campground along National Forest Development Road 4785. This involved a driving down a stretch of gravel road, but it wasn't too bad. Look for an immediate turnoff from Highway 138 for the shorter route and I think no gravel road.

Though there's a gravel road leading to our trailhead the trail itself follows a short paved segment leading towards the river where a small bridge make the crossing to the opposite bank trivial. Here there's additional parking and a restroom. There's also a nice picnic bench in the shade with a good view of the falls.

The falls here don't match what we encountered at Lemolo Falls to be sure. But what it lacks in drop it makes up for it in intimacy. You can get right up to the base of the falls. Even better, there's a side trail to the left of the falls that allows for easy access to the top as well.

A small famil dominated the falls upon our first arrival, but we bided our time by having our lunch and they moved on to their next adventure. From then on out we had the falls to ourselves.

Whitehorse Falls
By Austin Explorer on 6/8/2022
Rating:

Difficulty:

Solitude:

Distance: 0.25 Mile Duration: 10 minutes

This one is almost too short to log, but we ended up at a waterfall, so here it is. The walk from the parking spaces to the falls viewing platform and back won't net you a quarter mile. But if you wander around you can manage it.

There is a restroom at the parking spot for those who need it.

The short path is likely ADA compliant and is short enough for just about anyone to enjoy it. Coppertone enjoyed watching a couple of chipmunks scurry about.

We saw only one other person from the camp sites a bit further down the road, otherwise we had the falls to ourselves.

Watson Falls
By Austin Explorer on 6/8/2022
Rating:

Difficulty:

Solitude:

Distance: 1.12 Miles Duration: 43 minutes

Coppertone and I found a few cars in the parking area for Watson Falls though we ended up only seeing one other person on the trail.

A set of stairs starts off the hike, which develops into an interesting and fun slalom course through a large boulder field. As you get closer to the falls and the mist builds up the trail turns more muddy.

Watson Falls bills itself as the highest waterfall in SW Oregon. We don't doubt the title, but what we do wonder about is the varying numbers given for its height. Depending on which sign you read it can be anywhere from 272 to 293 feet.

The trail continues past the wooden viewing platform in a series of switchbacks which promises to get somewhat closer to the falls. But when it made a turn that made us question how much longer it would go away from the falls we opted to turn around and return to our starting point. We had one more hike to complete on this day.

Toketee Falls Circus
By Austin Explorer on 6/8/2022
Rating: 2stars

Difficulty: 3stars

Solitude:

Distance: 1.29 Miles Duration: 45 minutes

Toketee Falls was chosen as the photo to grace the cover of the excellent Thundering Waters brochure. This is the very brochure that drew us to the area. So perhaps it should have been no surprise that the parking area for this hike was busy compared to others on our trip. What was shocking is the parking lot being full. People were everywhere on this trail to such an extent that it felt like DisneyWorld.

We were met in the parking lot by the sight of an odd timbered aquaduct. The enormous pipeline seemed to be leaking as much water as it was carrying to its destination. It's part of the Toketee Project, which generates enough electricity to power over 22,000 homes. So despite the losses, most of the water must be making it through where it needs to go!

Unlike many trails on our trip the muddiness started early. A bit later the trail will move above the North Umpqua River and become less muddy and a bit rockier.

An overlook about half way through the trail looms over a couple of potholes in the river. The cylindrical depressions in the bedrock beneath the turbulent river are caused by the grinding action of rocks and sediment that get caught in eddies.

The viewing platform at the end of the trail provides a view of the falls below.

Overall, it's not a bad little hike. But we saw more people on this one trail than we saw on all of our other Oregon waterfalls hikes in total by a large margin. It was just shocking.