Salt Creek Falls

Located west of Willamette Pass, just off of Highway 58. The Salt Creek Falls day use area is located 21 miles east of Oakridge, or 5 miles west of Willamette Pass. The parking lot is well signed from the main road, and east bounders will undoubtedly see the falls through the trees before reaching the turnoff. The first viewpoints are handicap accessible, with the trail to the base being easy, but with numerous stairs.Salt Creek Falls is one of Oregon's most notable waterfalls, and is often (incorrectly) claimed to be the second tallest waterfall in the state. The falls drop into a sheer-walled canyon near Willamette Pass which was formed by a broad glacially carved valley being filled in with extensive lava flows which left only a narrow passage for the watercourse in the valley to occupy. The narrow canyon walls are now adorned with extensive displays of columnar basalt as a result. Salt Creek Falls is cited both on site and in most literature as dropping 286 feet, however topographic data generated from Lidar surveys suggest this may be a generous measurement and the actual height of the falls is 263 feet. There is not yet enough data to concretely dispute the 286-foot figure, and further surveying will need to be conducted to establish an accurate measurement.Salt Creek Falls was discovered by Anglos Frank S. Warner and Charles Tufti, his guide, in March of 1887. Salt Creek was named after a series of springs with a high salt content often used as salt licks by wildlife. The falls were named for the creek. Though the falls are located within relatively close proximity to Eugene, this area was more or less wilderness for quite some time. The original viewpoint of the falls was from a pullout along the old Willamette Pass Road, directly across the canyon from the falls. The perspective is still possible to achieve, but there is nowhere to park, so you'd have to walk along the road from the developed viewpoints.