National Creek Falls | |
---|---|
Location | Douglas County, Oregon |
Coordinates | 43°01′53″N122°20′41″W / 43.03141°N 122.34466°W |
Type | Cascade, Plunge |
Elevation | 3,863 ft (1,177 m) |
Total height | 40 ft (12 m) |
Number of drops | 1 |
Average width | 30 ft (9 m) |
Average flow rate | 150 cu ft/s (4.2 m3/s) |
National Creek Falls is a waterfall from National Creek, that plunges into a grotto surrounded by a meadow of mosses on the west skirt of the Crater Lake National Park, north of Union Creek, Oregon. [1]
National Creek Falls lays adjacent to Diamond Lake Road off US Route 62. The road was once a wagon route used for travel from the Rogue Valley to the newly discovered gold mines in the John Day Valley. The drainage of National Creek was then a popular layover site for miners and stock-men travelers that passed at Lake West towards the John Day Valley. After a fire devastated the area in the early 1860s the route was reopened in 1910 by the Forest Service, now known as Diamond Lake Road. [2]
National Creek Falls is located on pumice flanks of Mount Mazama with basalt outcropping that diverges the creek into a wide waterfall. The National Creek Falls trail starts off Crater Lake Highway and descends through a shaded, mixed conifer forest, ending at the base of National Creek Falls, totaling 0.75 mi (1.21 km). [2]
Crater Lake National Park is an American national park located in southern Oregon. Established in 1902, Crater Lake is the fifth-oldest national park in the United States and the only national park in Oregon. The park encompasses the caldera of Crater Lake, a remnant of Mount Mazama, a destroyed volcano, and the surrounding hills and forests.
Multnomah Falls is a waterfall located on Multnomah Creek in the Columbia River Gorge, east of Troutdale, between Corbett and Dodson, Oregon, United States. The waterfall is accessible from the Historic Columbia River Highway and Interstate 84. Spanning two tiers on basalt cliffs, it is the tallest waterfall in the state of Oregon at 620 ft (189 m) in height. The Multnomah Creek Bridge, built in 1914, crosses below the falls, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The American Discovery Trail is a system of recreational trails and roads that collectively form a coast-to-coast hiking and biking trail across the mid-tier of the United States. Horses can also be ridden on most of this trail. The coastal trailheads are the Delmarva Peninsula on the Atlantic Ocean and the northern California coast on the Pacific Ocean. The trail has northern and southern alternates for part of its distance, passing through Chicago and St. Louis respectively. The total length of the trail, including both the north and south routes, is 6,800 miles (10,900 km). The northern route covers 4,834 miles (7,780 km) with the southern route covering 5,057 miles (8,138 km). It is the only non-motorized coast-to-coast trail.
The McKenzie River is a 90-mile (145 km) tributary of the Willamette River in western Oregon in the United States. It drains part of the Cascade Range east of Eugene and flows westward into the southernmost end of the Willamette Valley. It is named for Donald McKenzie, a Scottish Canadian fur trader who explored parts of the Pacific Northwest for the Pacific Fur Company in the early 19th century. As of the 21st century, six large dams have been built on the McKenzie and its tributaries.
The Salmon River is a 33.5-mile (53.9 km) river in the Cascade Range in the U.S. state of Oregon that drains part of southwestern Mount Hood. The entire length of the river is a protected National Wild and Scenic River. Several portions are in protected wilderness. It is affluent to the Sandy River, a tributary of the Columbia River.
Diamond Peak is a volcano in Klamath and Lane counties of central Oregon in the United States. It is a shield volcano, though it might also be considered a modest stratocone. Diamond Peak forms part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc, a segment of the Cascade Range in western North America extending from southern British Columbia through Oregon to Northern California. Reaching an elevation of 8,748 feet (2,666 m), the mountain is located near Willamette Pass in the Diamond Peak Wilderness within the Deschutes and Willamette national forests. Surrounded by coniferous forest and visible in the skyline from foothills near Eugene, Diamond Peak offers a few climbing routes and can be scrambled. Diamond Peak is one of Oregon's Matterhorns.
Diamond Lake is a natural body of water in the southern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It lies near the junction of Oregon Route 138 and Oregon Route 230 in the Umpqua National Forest in Douglas County. It is located between Mount Bailey to the west and Mount Thielsen to the east; it is just north of Crater Lake National Park.
The Wood River is a short river in the southern region of the U.S. state of Oregon, and part of the Klamath Basin drainage. It flows 18 miles (29 km) through the Fremont-Winema National Forests, Bureau of Land Management land, and private property in southern Oregon. Its watershed consists of 220 square miles (570 km2) of conifer forest, rural pasture land, and marsh. The river provides habitat for many species of wildlife including an adfluvial (migratory) and resident populations of native Great Basin redband trout.
Salt Creek Falls is a cascade and plunge waterfall on Salt Creek, a tributary of the Middle Fork Willamette River, that plunges into a gaping canyon in the Willamette National Forest near Willamette Pass in Lane County, Oregon. The waterfall is notable for its main drop of 286 feet (87 m), ranking third highest among plunge waterfalls in Oregon, after Multnomah Falls and Watson Falls.) The pool at the bottom of Salt Creek Falls waterfall is 66 feet (20 m) deep.
Union Creek is a 15-mile (24 km) long tributary of the Rogue River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Beginning west of Union Peak in the Cascade Range, it flows through the Rogue River – Siskiyou National Forest to meet the Rogue at Union Creek and the Union Creek Historic District.
Elliott Corbett Memorial State Recreation Site is a state park along the south shore of Blue Lake Crater in Jefferson County, Oregon, United States. The park is named in honor of Elliott R. Corbett II, who was killed while serving in the United States Army during World War II. It includes 63 acres (25 ha) of wilderness land with very few park facilities. Corbett State Park is administered by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.
The Mount Adams Recreation Area is a 21,000-acre (8,500 ha) recreation area in the U.S. state of Washington managed by the Yakama Nation Tribal Forestry Program. The area encompasses an ecologically complex and geologically active landscape. The region features the most rugged side of Mount Adams, including canyons and the Great Gap section of the Mount Adams circumnavigation route, a three-mile trail-less section over two great canyons and many difficult glacial creeks. At 12,276 feet (3,742 m), Mount Adams is one of the major Cascade mountains. The recreation area is on the east side of the mountain and is part of the Yakama Indian Reservation and includes the popular Bird Creek Meadows area.
Crane Mountain is in the Warner Mountain range and is the tallest peak in Lake County, Oregon, U.S. It is located southeast of Lakeview in south-central Oregon, near the northwest corner of the Basin and Range Province of the western United States. The mountain is in the Fremont section of the Fremont–Winema National Forest. There was a United States Forest Service fire lookout located near the summit which was removed in 1972. The Crane Mountain National Recreation Trail runs north and south along the crest of the mountain.
Alkali Falls, is a multi-step waterfall of 6 tiers located in the east side of the Rogue–Umpqua Divide Wilderness, just west of Mount Bailey and Diamond Lake, on Oregon Route 230 in Douglas County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. It totals 510 feet (160 m) fall in six drops, the Upper Alkali and tallest drop is 130 feet (40 m), making it one of the tallest cascades in Oregon.
Paulina Creek Falls is a cascade and plunge waterfall from a streambed draining from Paulina Lake in Newberry National Volcanic Monument, south of Bend, Oregon. The waterfall is notable for its side-by-side drop of 80 feet (24 m) that surrounds a small island at the edge of the cliff.
Wolf Creek Falls, is a two tier waterfall located on the west skirt of the Umpqua National Forest, in Douglas County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located in a privileged area where rivers of the forest create several waterfalls: Cavitt Creek Falls, and Shadow Falls are within five miles of Wolf Creek Falls. Grotto Falls is further to the east off Little River Road and National Forest Road 2703.
Yocum Falls, is a waterfall located in the heart of the Mount Hood National Forest, in Clackamas County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located in a privileged area in Zigzag canyon with several waterfalls including Little Zigzag Falls and Ramona Falls. The name, as well as Yocum Ridge, the south ridge of the Sandy Glacier on the west slope of Mount Hood, comes from businessman Oliver C. Yocum.
Diamond Creek Falls is a waterfall formed along Gibson Canyon on the north end of Willamette National Forest, east side of the city of Oakridge in Lane County, Oregon. Access to Diamond Creek Falls is located along Oregon Route 58 through trail paths that lead down to the stream and the base of the waterfall.
Drift Creek Falls is a waterfall formed west of Valley of the Giants, east side of the city of Lincoln City in Lincoln County, Oregon. Access to Drift Creek Falls is located along a trail constructed by the Forest Service in the 1990s and features a 240 foot long suspension bridge crossing Drift Creek.
The High Cascades Complex was a group of 20 fires burning in four protected areas in Oregon, in the United States, specifically: Crater Lake National Park, Rogue River – Siskiyou National Forest, Umpqua National Forest, and Fremont–Winema National Forest. The first fire in the complex, the Blanket Creek Fire, was started by a lightning strike on July 29, 2017. In total, the fires have burned 72,309 acres (293 km2) and are 28% contained. The fires are directly impacting the communities of Prospect, Union Creek and Diamond Lake, park headquarters, old growth forests that house endangered species like the spotted owl and volcanic features.