Dillon Falls

Located west of Bend off of the Cascade Lakes Highway. From Highway 97 in Bend, follow the signs towards Cascade Lakes Highway and Mt Bachelor (through Bend, the road is called Century Drive). You'll pass several roundabouts before resuming a four-lane highway. About 6 ¼ miles from Bend turn left on FR 41, signed for the Deschutes River Recreation area. Proceed for 3 miles and turn left at FR 600, signed for Dillon Falls. The road ends in just under a mile, just upstream from the falls. A trail heads downstream along the gorge rim.Dillon Falls is the second of three major waterfalls along the Deschutes River near Bend. Like nearby Lava Island Falls, Dillon Falls hasn't been widely documented or publicized because it is quite difficult to see the majority of the falls. Trails, however, provide much better views of Dillon Falls - enough so that a proper rating can be achieved. Now, the make up of the falls could be in dispute, depending on whom you ask. The falls are said to drop 65 feet over 1/3 of a mile of run, but that stretches the concept of a waterfall pretty thin. There is a substantial 15-foot drop at the top of the falls, followed by a long series of violent rapids. The book A Waterfall Lover's Guide to the Pacific Northwest calls the whole thing 40 to 60 feet tall, and, depending on the edition, gives it as many as four (of five) stars. I say it's a 15-foot waterfall followed by a long series of violent rapids. The falls are nice and the gorge is pretty, but again, like Lava Island Falls, because the views are restricted to one side of the river (this time because there is no way to cross), the falls are much less of an attraction than they could be. The site is worth visiting, however, for the views of the gorge alone so don't write this one off completely.Dillon Falls was named for Leander Dillon, a nearby homesteader involved in large scale timber claims in 1906 in parts of central Oregon. After moving to Prineville, he died in a fire in 1907.