Upper Mowitch Falls

Woodward Creek is a stream of modest size which drains to the Columbia River west of Beacon Rock State Park. Along its length are no less than a half-dozen waterfalls of varying size and shape, and while none of these falls are terribly large, all of them are scenic. Upper Mowitch Falls is the second set of these major falls, encountered along Woodward Creek when bushwhacking downstream from the old Russ Jolly trail which traverses the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge between Archer Mountain and Beacon Rock State Park. The falls are formed as Woodward Creek rolls over a smoothed ledge and plunges 28 feet into a narrow canyon, with the fall bouncing off of the rock and constricting partially as it falls due to the shape of the cliff. About one hundred feet downstream of the upper tier is an 11-foot lower tier where the creek sheets out across a much broader ledge, and slides into a small pool, with the right half of the falls swooshing down in an eye-catching curved slide. This section of Woodward Creek and the road used to access the trail leading there appears to be Gifford Pinchot National Forest land, however along the road used to access the trail is a sign nailed to a tree which claims the road is private and that public travel is not allowed. We have not been able to verify the legitimacy of this sign, and since just a few hundred feet past the sign along the road is a Forest Service road number marker (and this road is the only road which can access the National Forest land further up), we have reason to believe this sign is "unofficial" and meant simply to deter people from the area (there are several private tracts and homes passed en route to the trailhead). That said, if you find any further indication that public access is not allowed via the route described below, please be respectful of the landowners and do not continue.This waterfall has no previously known or recognized name as far as we have been able to uncover. Portland-based photographer and waterfall hunter Zach Forsyth proposed the name Mowitch Falls for the next falls downstream after "discovering" the falls in 2010, and given that nothing distinctly stands out about this waterfall on its own, we chose to adopt the convention further (until a better title can be decided on).