Middle 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 Lower East Fork Falls can be seen next to the road. Continue another four-tenths of a mile to where the road makes a sharp right-hand bend at the top of a small hill. The falls are immediately adjacent to this bend. Park at the bend and find a faint path that drops to the river above the falls, and then scramble down the natural steps to the left of the falls to the rocks below (this may be difficult during periods of high flow).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 middle of the three falls is a broad segmented cascade which drops 15 feet over an 80-foot wide ledge that forces the river to make a sharp 90-degree bend. The falls are oriented facing away from the road, and because of the sharp bend in the river the only views of the falls are side-on, so it isn't quite as approachable as the lower falls just downstream. This also shields the falls from view a bit more (especially if approaching from the east).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 Middle East Fork Falls - though it is a rather small waterfall and could have just as easily been ignored in the past.