Barth Falls

Barth Falls is located 14.8 miles southeast of Astoria along Highway 202. Traveling from Astoria, watch for a sharp bend to the left where the road rounds a cliff, with a shallow gorge in the river to the right. There is parking room for about 3 cars.Barth Falls is a small drop on the North Fork Klatskanine River bypassed by a fish ladder. Two odd things stand out about this waterfall; one - the falls, while only 5 feet tall, are bypassed by a 3-step fish ladder, yet being only 5 feet tall, fish should be able to navigate the drop. Two - a waterfall of such insignificant stature isn't really noteworthy, so I'm curious why this feature was named. Topographic maps incorrectly place this feature along an unnamed, seasonal stream about ¼ mile to the west. There very well may be a waterfall at that location, but access would most likely require crossing private land. This one is only going to be of interest to waterfall collectors. I've heard reports that this fall actually runs dry in the summer. I doubt this in part - the river isn't small enough to run dry, but due to the fish ladder syphoning off half the flow, the falls themselves could easily dry out late in the year.