| Wahclella Falls | |
|---|---|
 Wahclella Falls, by Max Benbassat, October 2016 | |
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| Location | Columbia River Gorge Multnomah Falls, Oregon United States |
| Coordinates | 45°37′4.5″N121°56′59.7″W / 45.617917°N 121.949917°W |
| Type | Tiered |
| Total height | 350 ft (107 m) |
| Number of drops | 2 |
| Longest drop | 60 ft (18 m) |
Wahclella Falls is a waterfall along Tanner Creek, a tributary of the Columbia River, Multnomah County, Oregon, United States. It enters the river within the Columbia River Gorge. [1]
The Columbia River Highway splits around Exit #40 that leads to the Bonneville Dam. The parking and access area for Wahclella Falls is slightly down the hill and to the right (for eastbound traffic) of the entrance to the dam.[ clarification needed ]
Wahclella is at the midpoint of the well maintained trail number 436 loop that forms a 1.8-mile (2.9 km) roundtrip. [2] The falls are divided into upper and lower segments with a combined height of 350 ft (107 m), the upper section is not completely visible while the fully visible lower segment stands 60 feet (18 m) in height as it thunders out of a narrow gorge carved through dark gray basalt. [2] [3] [4]
The plunge pool has a picturesque quality due to the surrounding natural walls that form a semi-circular rotunda extending from the falls to the main vantage point. As with most waterfalls, Wahclella does exhibit some seasonality of water flow. However, because Tanner Creek is sourced primarily by an underground spring, the flow is never dramatically affected by adverse weather.
Wahclella Falls was named after a nearby village of Native Americans by the Mazama mountaineering club in 1915.
The United States Forest Service charges a fee or requires a pass for parking at the trail head.
The Columbia River Gorge is a canyon of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Up to 4,000 feet (1,200 m) deep, the canyon stretches for over eighty miles (130 km) as the river winds westward through the Cascade Range, forming the boundary between the state of Washington to the north and Oregon to the south. Extending roughly from the confluence of the Columbia with the Deschutes River in the east down to the eastern reaches of the Portland metropolitan area, the water gap furnishes the only navigable route through the Cascades and the only water connection between the Columbia Plateau and the Pacific Ocean. It is thus that the routes of Interstate 84, U.S. Route 30, Washington State Route 14, and railroad tracks on both sides run through the gorge.
The Deschutes River in central Oregon is a major tributary of the Columbia River. The river provides much of the drainage on the eastern side of the Cascade Range in Oregon, gathering many of the tributaries that descend from the drier, eastern flank of the mountains. The Deschutes provided an important route to and from the Columbia for Native Americans for thousands of years, and then in the 19th century for pioneers on the Oregon Trail. The river flows mostly through rugged and arid country, and its valley provides a cultural heart for central Oregon. Today the river supplies water for irrigation and is popular in the summer for whitewater rafting and fishing.
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 Sandy River is a 56-mile (90 km) tributary of the Columbia River in northwestern Oregon in the United States. The Sandy joins the Columbia about 14 miles (23 km) upstream of Portland.
The Little Nestucca River is a river, approximately 20 miles (32 km) long, on the Pacific coast of northwest Oregon in the United States. It drains an area of the Central Oregon Coast Range west of the Willamette Valley.
Wahkeena Falls is a 242-foot (74 m) waterfall in the Columbia River Gorge in the state of Oregon.
Oneonta Gorge is a scenic gorge located in the Columbia River Gorge area of the American state of Oregon. The U.S. Forest Service has designated it as a botanical area because of the unique aquatic and woodland plants that grow there. Exposed walls of 25-million-year-old basalt are home to a wide variety of ferns, mosses, hepatics, and lichens, many of which grow only in the Columbia River Gorge. Oneonta Gorge with its 50 species of wildflowers, flowering shrubs and trees has been described as "one of the true dramatic chasms in the state." The Oneonta Gorge Creek Bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Horsetail Falls is a waterfall located on Horsetail Creek along the Columbia River Gorge in Multnomah County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. The falls drop over a cut over the columnar basalt cliff within the Oneonta Gorge. It is one of the waterfalls along the Columbia River Highway's waterfall corridor.
Latourell Falls is a waterfall along the Columbia River Gorge in the U.S. state of Oregon, within Guy W. Talbot State Park.
Eagle Creek is a creek located mainly in Hood River County, Oregon, in the Columbia River Gorge, with its last roughly 0.5 miles (0.80 km) and mouth in Multnomah County. A tributary of the Columbia River, the creek flows for approximately 15 miles (24 km) from the Thrush Pond between Eagle Butte and Tanner Butte to its mouth near Bonneville Dam. The East Fork Eagle Creek is a major tributary that begins at Wahtum Lake and joins the main stem approximately 2/3 the way between the Thrush Pond and the Columbia River, separated by Indian Mountain.
Larch Mountain is an extinct volcano near Portland, Oregon. The name is misleading, as no western larch can be found there. It received that name when early lumbermen sold the noble fir wood as larch. The peak can be reached between May and November on paved Larch Mountain Road, 16 mi (26 km) east of Corbett, Oregon, although the road is closed during the winter and spring months. The road leading to Larch Mountain from the Historic Columbia River Highway is 14 miles long, which closed at milepost 10 from Nov. through late May or early June due to snow.
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.
The Mark O. Hatfield Wilderness is a wilderness area located on the northern side of Mount Hood in the northwestern Cascades of the U.S. state of Oregon, near the Columbia River Gorge and within Mount Hood National Forest. Prior to Wilderness designation it was known as the Columbia Gorge Recreation Area.
Multnomah Creek is a 5-mile-long (8.0 km) stream in northern Oregon. Multnomah Creek's source is on Larch Mountain in the Mount Hood National Forest and its waters flow north to the Columbia River Gorge, over Multnomah Falls into Benson Lake and then the Columbia River. The waterfall is accessible from the Historic Columbia River Highway and Interstate 84. The two drop waterfall is the tallest in the state of Oregon at 620 ft (189 m) in height.
The valley of the West Fork Foss River contains a fair amount of waterfalls. The river heads in a series of large lakes: Big Heart Lake, Angeline Lake, and Otter Lake- which form spectacular waterfalls as they plunge down to Delta Lake. On the valley walls downstream of Delta Lake, are found even more waterfalls.
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.
The South Fork Rogue River is a 25-mile (40 km) tributary of the Rogue River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Rising in the Sky Lakes Wilderness in the Cascade Range, it flows generally northeast through the Rogue River – Siskiyou National Forest to meet the Rogue River downstream of Prospect and slightly upstream of Lost Creek Lake.
Upper Chush Falls is a 200-foot (61 m) waterfall on Whychus Creek, in the Cascade Range southwest of Sisters in the U.S. state of Oregon. Chush Falls, a 50-foot (15 m) waterfall, is further downstream on the same creek. Lying between Chush and Upper Chush is a third waterfall, The Cascade. These and several other falls on tributaries in the vicinity are within the Three Sisters Wilderness. The Northwest Waterfall Survey lists the fall's average flow at 40 cubic feet per second (1.1 m3/s). The highest flows occur between May and August.
Tanner Creek is a creek located in the Columbia River Gorge in Multnomah County, Oregon, United States, that is a tributary of the Columbia River.
| Authority control databases: Geographic |
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