So, Why are They Called the Cascades?

Good question! Care to guess? Here's a hint, or fourteen hints to be exact.

(Since we just finished our time in Oregon I thought I'd revisit these particularly "cool" summer spots.  Many of the links in this post are from the Northwest Waterfall Survey Website that thoroughly and enthusiastically lists, describes, maps, illustrates and rates all the waterfalls in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. So if you're a waterfall nut, check out their site.)

Sahalie and Koosah Falls are on the McKenzie River in the Northern Oregon Cascades, and are easy to find on Rt. 126, the McKenzie Highway, west of Sisters and Bend, OR.  The McKenzie River is one of the most beautiful in Oregon and there's a beautiful trail between the two falls.

Sahalie Falls

Koosah Falls

Tumelo Falls are also near Bend, OR. We saw an American Dipper fly out of the top of the falls as we watched from the overlook.

Tumelo Falls

Paulina Creek Falls are in Newberry National Volcanic Monument, south of Bend.

Paulina Creek Falls

Salt Creek Falls are 27 miles southeast of Oakridge, OR, on the Willamette Highway, or Rt. 58. They boast a 286' drop and an overlook from above and below.

Salt Creek Falls

Clearwater, Whitehorse, Watson and Toketee Falls are all in the southern Oregon Cascades, on the N. Umpqua Highway, or Rt. 138, between Diamond Lake and Roseburg, OR.  They're all exceptionally mossy and ferny. 

Clearwater Falls

Whitehorse Falls

Watson Falls

Toketee Falls

The best known cascades (little "c") are probably those in the Columbia River Gorge. When in Oregon two years ago we visited Latourell, Wahkeena, Horsetail and the tallest of them all, Multnomah at a whopping 611 feet!

Latourell Falls

Wahkeena Falls

Horsetail Falls

Multnomah Falls

OK, geography lesson complete. Now we've passed out of watery Oregon and into dry, dry, dry California until Spring. What an amazing and abrupt change. But wait! There will be one more catch- up post about wild watery Oregon.