Lower Falls

Lacamas Park is located in the northern part of the city of Camas, just north of Highway 14, east of Vancouver. Take Highway 500 north from Highway 14 for a little over 2 ½ miles to a small parking lot on the right, signed as Lacamas Park, immediately before crossing Lacamas Creek. Park in the lot and follow the paved paths downstream for ½ mile to Pothole Falls, crossing the dam holding Round Lake back about halfway. From Pothole Falls, follow the signs pointing towards Lower Falls, reached in another ½ mile. The footbridge above the falls provides the easiest access, but views of the falls are not really that illustrative. About 200 feet downstream from the bridge a rude, steep and often muddy fisherman's path drops to the base of the falls for better access.While the lower of the two falls on Lacamas Creek - given the colorful name of Lower Falls - isn't nearly as pronounced as its upstream sibling, the falls are rather unique in that they have a rather massive face. Here Lacamas Creek slides over a long, domed outcrop, cascading a total of about 30 vertical feet in a run of about 180 feet. In low water, the creek splits into several braids as it slides down the face, but in higher water periods the falls take on a whole new character. What my picture fails to illustrate is how long the falls actually are - there is a significant foreshortening factor at play here, cutting off the top 10 vertical feet of the falls. Unfortunately there really isn't any way to photograph the entire fall from above.