Middle Oneonta Falls

Located in the Multnomah Falls area of the Columbia Gorge. To reach this pretty, yet always overrated waterfall, hike along either Horsetail Falls Trail #438 for 1.2 miles from Horsetail Falls to the bridge over Oneonta Creek, or hike in 3/4 of a mile from the historic highway along Oneonta Trail #424 to it's junction with the Horsetail Falls Trail, then descend to the bridge over Oneonta Creek where the falls are visible. The Oneonta Trail is accessed about 2 miles east of Multnomah Falls, and the Horsetail Falls trail is an additional 3/4 mile east of there.The waterfalls of Oneonta Creek seem to have an everlasting identity crisis. Of the four major waterfalls along the creek, only one of them is consistently labeled correctly. Most people can easily identify Triple Falls, but no one seems to know for sure which of the other three waterfalls along the creek is the real Oneonta Falls. Well, now someone does. This, the middle falls, has been more often than not referred to as Oneonta Falls. However, the real Oneonta Falls occurs about 1/4 of a mile upstream from this point. Initially this was thought of as an inconsistency on the topographic maps, however, after seeing a picture of the real Oneonta Falls and later confirming its location was the same as that marked on the topographic maps, it became clear that this was simply a case of people not being able to read maps correctly. Additionally, this waterfall has often been cited as standing anywhere between 45 and 75 feet tall - which is curious since it should be rather obvious to visitors that it is nowhere near that tall (our survey yielded a height of 24 feet).This waterfall was erroneously cited as Oneonta Falls in all editions of Greg Plumb's "Waterfall Lovers Guide to the Pacific Northwest", is briefly mentioned in David Anderson's "Waterfalls of the Pacific Northwest" as Oneonta Falls, as well as being called Upper Oneonta Falls in "Romance of Waterfalls" by Bloom and Cohen.