Linton Falls

Linton Creek is the most significant stream which drains off the west side of North and Middle Sisters in the Three Sisters Wilderness Area. Over a length of about 4-1/2 miles the creek forms from a broad volcanic plateau studded with springs, through numerous meadows and shallow lakes, and finally tumbles in spectacular fashion into Linton Lake near the McKenzie Pass highway before submerging underground to become the bulk of Lost Creek further down the valley. In this process Linton Creek produces perhaps a dozen significant waterfalls, some of which are among the most impressive in Oregon.
Linton Falls is not only the largest and most significant waterfall along Linton Creek, it's also the largest waterfall in the Three Sisters Wilderness and is among the very tallest waterfalls in Oregon. The falls are made up of 8 to 10 distinct tiers as it tumbles down the side of the valley to Linton Lake below, dropping approximately 470 feet in all based on Lidar renderings. There is no location where the entire falls are visible from one point - even from the opposite side of the valley - so a full understanding of how the upper tiers of the falls interact is not yet available. The intrepid few who have scrambled to the top of the falls have reported looking down over the 150-foot tall uppermost tier of the falls, and from the base we have been able to measure the final three tiers of the falls as dropping 99 feet, 49 feet, and 119 feet respectively. On our most recent visit we attempted to find a viewpoint which would reveal the upper half of the falls, but found the creek was too treacherous to safely cross to do so.
The lowermost tier of the falls appears to be wildly affected by debris which chokes the stream channel at its brink. On our initial survey of the falls in 2005 the creek poured down a notch roughly in the center of the cliff, then spread out across the majority of the cliff as it hits the small ledges further down. Re-visiting in 2017 the creek has shifted entirely to the far left side of the cliff, so the falls are much narrower in appearance presently. We've also seen pictures which show it having spread out across the entire of the cliff to a width of perhaps as much as 75 feet across.
The Linton Creek basin covers an area of at least 10 square miles and extends up onto the slopes of North and Middle Sisters. None of the glaciers on either of the volcanoes appear to drain into Linton Creek, but ample winter snow fall coupled with the extremely porous ground in the upper basin ensures an ample flow of water in Linton Creek all year long. The creek itself emerges from Linton Spring as about a third of the volume seen at Linton Falls, with the remainder joining in from a south fork and multiple other springs which empty into Linton Meadows well upstream from the falls.
In 2017 the Separation Creek fire extended north to and burned some of the forest around Linton Falls. The few pictures we've seen showing an overview of the area suggest that most of the forest was left unscathed and only individual trees burned here and there, while the area around the falls looked to have escaped relatively unharmed. Visitors to the area should still exercise caution as the burnt trees could pose significant hazards if the soil at their roots becomes unstable (there are already a lot of fallen trees in this area as is).Linton Falls was named for the creek and / or lake, but it isn't known whom the creek was named for. There are no less than 5 features with the name Linton applied in the area (Falls, Creek, Lake, Meadows and Springs).