Beaver Falls

From the junction of Highway 30 and SR 433 at the western end of the Lewis and Clark Bridge, follow Highway 30 west for 5 miles, then bear right onto Delena Road (or Beaver Falls Road, or Old Route 30; there have been signs marking it as all three in the past). As of November 2012, there was no longer a sign marking the road, so watch your odometer and look for the road which splits off from the highway heading straight ahead where the highway bears slightly left. Take Delena Road for 3.8 miles to a large gravel pullout on the left (downhill) side of the road and park. Look for a sign marking the Beaver Falls Trail, and follow the trail for a relatively easy quarter mile down to the base of the falls. The last couple hundred feet or so seem to be prone to slides, and the trail has been temporarily closed at times due to damage in this area. The falls can also be partially seen from a chain-link fenced viewpoint about one-third of a mile back up the road, where a white wooden guard rail lines the road.Beaver Falls is a scenic 48-foot tall fall along Beaver Creek near the town of Clatskanie. Much of Beaver Creek's lower course runs through well defined basalt formations, with the falls occurring where the creek sheets out over 50-foot wide shelf and curtains into an amphitheater lined with well formed columnar jointing. A small seasonal tributary stream also plunges into the gorge adjacent to Beaver Falls, creating a nice companion waterfall during the wet season.
Though Beaver Creek is not a terribly voluminous stream and drains from a low elevation area, it possesses a large enough drainage area (over 10 square miles) that the volume of water in the creek can swell to significant levels during the wet season. This used to pose problems in viewing the falls as the only formal access to the falls was to its brink, and crossing the creek above the falls to get down to its base was prohibitively dangerous at high water. A formal trail to the bottom of the falls now exists however, so the falls can be easily accessed at any time of year.The falls were at one time much more well known as the road which passes above the falls is the former route of Highway 30 as it ran between Portland and Astoria. When the highway was moved further inland, the road became a seldom traveled arterial and the falls don't see nearly the traffic they once did, though it still seems to be a popular location for locals to swim at.