Deschutes Falls

Deschutes Falls is located in a small county park in a fairly isolated corner of Thurston County, and the only way to get there requires detouring from just about any other areas where one might seek out waterfalls. From Interstate 5 make your way to the town of Yelm via either State Route 510 from Lacey, or 507 from the Lakewood / Parkland area. In Yelm, at the east end of town, turn south onto Bald Hills Road and continue for another 5 miles to a four-way intersection. Turn left (east), staying on Bald Hills Road and continue another 9-1/4 miles to the end of the public road and the entrance to Deschutes Falls County Park. Keep watch for road signs along the route from Yelm to help point the right way. From the parking lot, follow the road-converted-to-trail which leads down hill to where the parking area used to be many years ago. Trails split in many directions at this point - keep more or less straight and head towards the fences along the canyon rim. The viewpoints for the falls should quickly become apparent. Total walking distance from the parking area is approximately one-quarter mile.Deschutes Falls is a modest two-tier waterfall found at the head of a narrow canyon along the upper reach of the Deschutes River near Yelm and Eatonville. The falls drop a total of 50 feet, the upper fall plunging 21 feet into a narrow recess in the canyon with a large tree stump wedged into the rock directly in front of the falls (partially obscuring the falls from view), and the lower tier then plunges an additional 28 feet in a wider fall which drops from one large pool of water to another in a crook in the canyon. The orientation of the lower tier of the falls makes it more difficult to view, and the most direct angle of view is starting to become encroached by tree branches and a few bushes. Downstream of the falls the river flows through an impressive nearly slot-like canyon for several hundred feet. Unfortunately there are no good views down into the canyon from the developed viewpoints along its rim. The Deschutes River has a drainage area of approximately 32 square miles upstream from the falls, which ensures at least some measurable amount of water will be present at the falls throughout the year. However as the drainage area occurs entirely at or below the 3000 foot elevation level, and there are no standing bodies of water which feed into the river, the volume of water present at the falls will diminish considerably as the seasons progress. Strong flows can be expected over the winter and spring months, between November and late April. Between July and October however expect to see a considerably reduced stream, possibly to the point that the falls may not be worthy of visiting (given the fairly isolated location at least).