Pothole 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. The best views of the falls are from a rocky grassy knoll a short ways downstream of the falls.Pothole Falls, or The Potholes, depending on which sign you confront, is the first of two modest waterfalls along Lacamas Creek as it flows from Lacamas and Round Lakes to the Washougal River. Round Lake is formed by a small dam on the creek, immediately below which the creek begins pounding through a sandstone gorge with all sorts of potholes in the streambed. About 300 feet downstream of the dam lies the falls, a 50 foot wide, 15 foot tall plunge. The falls are so named because of the various potholes which punctuate the ledge, funneling the water this way and that - particularly in the warmer seasons. Unfortunately, trees block views of the falls from most perspectives along the rim of the gorge. There is one clear view amid a field a short distance downstream, particularly scenic in the spring when copious swaths of wildflowers bloom amid the grassy knoll.