Wahe Falls

Wahe Falls is the final of a series of nearly a dozen waterfalls along Moffett Creek in the heart of the Columbia River Gorge. The falls plunge about 80 feet over an amphitheater basalt formation, common at most waterfalls in the Gorge. Moffett Creek doesn't have a terribly large drainage, but it moves a fair amount of water in the wet season. Evidence of a significant flash flood of some kind was seen at the base of the falls in the form of significant scouring along the stream bed and it appears several trees that formerly stood around the falls have been washed away. During the spring carpets of Yellow Fawn Lilies can be seen growing on top of a series of huge boulders encountered shortly before the falls are seen.Though this waterfall has been commonly known as Moffett Falls or Moffett Creek Falls for many, many years, it seems that this stems largely from a mapping error that gave it's proper name to the next waterfall upstream. The proper name for this waterfall is in fact Wahe Falls, documentation for which dates back to at least 1916 and has been confirmed with sources from both the Mazamas (see the December 1916 journal) and the Oregon State Water Resources Department. Because the USGS has incorrectly labeled the next falls upstream as Wahe Falls for decades, this waterfall colloquially became known as Moffett Falls or Moffett Creek Falls. Exactly what Wahe means is not known.