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| Ethan, 4, goofs around at Niagara Falls, near Beaver. |
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| Pheasant Creek Falls, on the same trail as Niagara Falls (pictured at top). |
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Barrels of fun
At Niagara Falls
Many collections — china dolls, say, or antiquarian books — can be absolutely destroyed by falling water. There’s another hobby, however, for which a big, wet kiss is absolutely required. It’s called waterfall collecting, and you can start anywhere you find running water, rocks and a slope downhill.
Fortunately for us, those three conditions perfectly describe life on the west side of the Coast Range. Our area offers some beautiful specimens: Hike out to one, take a photo, keep a journal, and your waterfall collection has begun. Spring, when the streams are swollen, is the ideal season to count cascades as well as wildflowers. Many falls disappear in the summertime, turning an intrepid waterfall hunter into just an ordinary hiker, once again. Here are a few to get you started.
Niagara Falls
This trail, a 1-mile walk through dense foliage, actually leads to two beautiful cascades within sight of one another. Niagara, named for a nearby point (rather than the obvious namesake in New York), is a 107-foot plunge-type fall, while Pheasant Creek Falls is a segmented 112 feet. Both lie near the border of Tillamook and Yamhill counties in the Nestucca River drainage, about 18 miles (on windy roads) east of Hwy. 101.
Improved in the late 1980s, this trail features four benches, wood bridges and a picnic table at the bottom. This time of year, hikers can see the last of the trillium flowers, in purple, pink and white, as well as baby ferns, salmonberries and red thimbleberries amidst the second growth canopy of Douglas fir and red alder. Squirrels, Steller’s jays and black-tailed deer share the path.
If you’ve caught the waterfall collecting bug, check your map for Clarence Creek and Alder Glen Falls; both are within a short drive of the Niagara Trail. The no-fee Rocky Bend campground is centrally located to all four waterfall destinations.
Niagara Falls Trail No. 1379
Length: 2 miles round trip
Elevation change: 300 feet
Difficulty: Moderate
Season: Open year round
Facilities: Picnic table at the end of the trail.
How to get there: From Hwy. 101 at Beaver, travel east on Blaine Road for 6 miles. At Blaine Junction, veer right to travel east on Upper Nestucca River Road for 5.8 miles to Forest Service Road 8533, on the right. Go south 4.3 miles to Forest Service Road 8533-131. Turn right at the junction and travel 0.7 miles to trailhead parking.
For details: Siuslaw National Forest, Hebo Ranger Station, http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/siuslaw/ or 503-392-3161.
Munson Creek Falls
If time is short and expectations are great, head to the most accessible and impressive waterfall in this neck of the woods: Munson Creek Falls, named for Goran Munson, a native of Michigan who settled the area in the 1890s. A triple horsetail falls down 319 feet, it’s the tallest cascade in the Coast Range, and it’s just two miles on gravel road from Hwy. 101, south of Tillamook.
The trail is less than a mile round trip, a straight shot through big-leaf maple, old-growth Western red cedar and Sitka spruce (including one of the country’s tallest remaining Sitkas, at 260 feet). You can also enjoy red alder, salmonberry, sword ferns and many kinds of moss in a cozy box canyon.
Parking at the trailhead is limited, and there is no — I repeat, NO — turnaround space for recreational vehicles.
Munson Creek State Natural Site
Length: .5 mile round trip
Elevation change: Minimal
Difficulty: Easy
Season: Open year round
Trailhead facilities: None
How to get there: Munson Creek Road is located six miles south of Tillamook on Hwy. 101. Turn east, and take the gravel road for 2 miles.
For details: Oregon State Parks, www.oregon.gov/OPRD/PARKS/ or 800-551-6949.
Drift Creek Falls
For a somewhat longer hike, with a thrilling suspension bridge at the end, waterfall collectors flock to Drift Creek Falls, near Lincoln City in the Siuslaw National Forest. This 3 mile hike bends down through changing forest settings, including a little old growth, to arrive at a 75-foot plunge-type falls, picnic tables and creek access.
From the parking area, the trail descends through Douglas fir, sword fern, salmonberry and huckleberry. The trail switches back 400 feet, through red alders, hemlock and Western red cedar, down to mossy logs and big leaf maples. View the falls from the 240-foot long suspension bridge built in 1997 and dedicated to the memory of Scott Paul, who died while working on the rigging.
A word of caution: this is the northern of two Drift Creeks found in the Coast Range (the other is near Waldport).
Drift Creek Falls No. 1378
Length: 3 miles round trip
Elevation change: 400 feet
Difficulty: Easy to moderate
Season: Trail open year round.
Facilities: Vault toilet at trailhead, picnic table at bridge
Fee: $5 day-use fee, or season forest pass
How to get there: From Hwy. 101 south of Lincoln City (and north of Salishan) turn east on Drift Creek Road. Turn right on South Drift Creek Road, ¼ mile, then left onto Forest Service Road 17. Stay on F.S. Road 17 to trailhead, approximately 10 miles.
OR
From the junction of Hwy. 101 and Hwy. 18 (north of Lincoln City), take Hwy. 18 east 4.5 miles. Turn south on Bear Creek Road (also marked as Cougar Mountain and Drift Creek Covered Bridge), and travel 3.5 miles until the road becomes F.S. Road 17. The trailhead is 7 miles farther.
For details: Siuslaw National Forest, Hebo Ranger Station, http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/siuslaw/ or 503-392-3161.
Story and photos by Niki Price
Oregon Coast Today
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