Lower East Fork Falls

The Coos Bay Wagon Road runs along the East Fork Coquille River between the towns of Myrtle Point and Tenmile, and is accessed from Highway 42 on both ends. Our directions will describe the approach from the west only. Take Highway 42 to the town of Myrtle Point and turn east onto Sitkum Lane at the very north end of town. After 19 miles pass through the small town of Dora. Continue another 11 miles, passing through Brewster Valley and the small town of Sitkum and then into the heart of Brewster Canyon, to where the falls can be seen along the left side of the road (the falls are 4-1/2 miles past Sitkum).The Coquille River's East Fork is the smallest of the four branches of its namesake river, and though it isn't endowed with any powerful or impressive waterfalls, it is very well endowed in scenery including a handful of small but very pretty cascades. The four major waterfalls marked on the USGS Sitkum 7-1/2" quadrangle are located in the heart of Brewster Canyon, located along the old Coos Bay Wagon Road between the small hamlets of Sitkum and Reston. On the map the canyon doesn't look like much, but driving through it feels remarkably remote and wild. Three of these four waterfalls can be found within about three-quarters of a mile of one another. The lowermost falls is a sheer drop of 18 feet over a broad ledge of bedrock where the river stretches out to as much as 70 feet wide at peak flow. When less water is present in the river from the late spring through the early autumn months, the falls will split into two (or possibly three) narrower segments, with one segment plunging behind a large boulder which is positioned in front of the falls.We haven't been able to find any evidence that any of the waterfalls on the East Fork Coquille River had been named in the past. But given that the historic Coos Bay Wagon Road passed right by the falls, and that we have seen postcards of an as-yes unidentified waterfall captioned as Brewster Canyon Falls (which we don't believe is the same waterfall as the one we currently have labeled with that title), it wouldn't be unrealistic to think this waterfall may have held a more formal name than Greg Plumb's generic working title of Lower East Fork Falls.