Fishhawk Falls

Fishhawk Falls is found within Lee Wooden County Park, 25 1/2 miles southeast of Astoria, or 4 1/2 miles northwest of Jewell along Highway 202. Recently the park has seen improvements, including a larger parking area and this has lengthened the trail to the falls by about one-quarter of a mile. Some small trees still partially obstruct views of the falls from the end of the trail, so it remains necessary to either get your feet wet to get closer to the falls (water may be up to shin deep) or to scramble up the hill adjacent to the falls for a closer view.The northern Coast Range possesses two ubiquitous qualities in regard to waterfalls. First, the vast majority of the waterfalls in the region occur where streams intersects basalt bedrock formations. Second, most streams only possess a single waterfall of significant stature. Fishhawk Creek illustrates this phenomenon perfectly. Both above and below the falls Fishhawk Creek follows placid, meandering path often with sandy banks lining the creek. At Fishhawk Falls the creek intersects an outcropping of basalt and cascades 62 feet down a moss-laden face of bedrock, then plunges another 10 feet over a wall of columnar basalt. Pictures don't often do a good job at representing the falls properly; often it appears as of the stream is simply cascading down a mass of jumbled boulders, where in realith there is actually very little loose material present (other than fallen trees at least). Of additional interest in the area is the Jewell Meadows Wildlife Refuge found about a mile downstream from the falls, where large herds of Elk are known to frequently congregate. The huge meadows by themselves are pretty enough to stop for a moment, but the frequent wildlife in the area makes this a good second destination for those visiting Fishhawk Falls.