October 5, 2024—Fall in the Pacific Northwest is a wonderful time to go for a hike: the weather is cooler, the lighting more pleasant as the sun arcs its path lower in the sky, and the leaves changing colors, falling to the ground, covering the trail, and crunching under hikers’ feet.
I had to trade in my shorts and t-shirt for long pants, long-sleeved shirt, and vest as the weather was now in the lower fifty degrees.
Fog accompanied much of my drive to McDowell Creek Falls County Park, so I was nervous I might encounter fog once I arrived at the park. The fog would make it hard to get nice photographs—sometimes fog can make a photo look ethereal, but I wasn’t convinced that would be the case today. I lucked out when the fog broke as I got close to the park and sunshine greeted me.
McDowell Creek Falls County Park is maintained by Linn County. The park is approximately 16 miles east of Lebanon, Oregon.
Parking is free, and there are three parking lots: one at the bottom, one midway up the hill, and the other at the top. The parking lot at the top provides visitors the quickest access to Majestic Falls, Crystal Falls, and the boardwalk. The lower parking lot is closest to Lower McDowell Creek Falls and Royal Terrace Falls.
The loop trail is just a little over two miles in length and takes less than an hour to hike. Except for the steepness of the rock steps alongside Royal Terrace Falls that might be a little too hard for young children, the rest of the trail system is doable by all but the very youngest. The park is heavily forested and features four small waterfalls. While not as dramatic or as tall as waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge or Silver Falls State Park, they are no less worth checking out.
The short trail length might make it less popular to hikers who live 30 miles or farther away. At 75 miles from my house, the trail is farther away than I might normally choose to visit. However, I had seen some beautiful photos of the waterfalls, so I felt inclined to drive the distance.
I set out on the trail and in a short distance came upon Royal Terrace Falls. The water over the 119-foot terraced falls at this time of year was but a trickle of what it is in late spring. It was a good thing I brought my tripod with me as the lighting made it next to impossible to take photos of the falls while hand-holding my camera. I decided that I would return in late spring next year to photograph the waterfall again when a larger quantity of water would be tumbling over the falls. Following the recommendation in one of my hiking books, I set out from the Royal Terrace Falls in a clockwise direction.
One shortcoming I noticed in the park was the lack of trail markers. I came to a fork in the trail where one trail went to the left while the other trail went straight ahead. I chose to proceed straight ahead. It turned out the other trail simply looped around on higher ground and joined up with the trail I was on a short distance farther.
I soon arrived at the elevated boardwalk that takes hikers to a viewpoint of Majestic Falls. It was a photo of this boardwalk that first enticed me to visit the park. It reminded me of the elevated walkway in the Flume Gorge in my home state of New Hampshire.
Though only 39 feet tall, Majestic Falls seemed more impressive to me, perhaps because more water was flowing over the waterfall than over Royal Terrace Falls, so I snapped several photos from different vantage points. There is a nice vantage point with a bench seat at the top of the waterfall, the perfect place to grab a snack while you watch the water tumble over the edge.
At the parking lot near the trailhead to Majestic Falls, the trail seemed to go in three different directions. No trailhead markers told me which direction to go, so I had to resort to Google Maps to discern which trail to take. This is where the lack of trailhead signs proved troubling.
Once on the correct trail, I eventually came to the top of Royal Terrace Falls. The waterfall is fed by Fall Creek, a pretty and serene creek, at least this time of year. I couldn’t resist snapping a picture of it. Negotiating down the somewhat steep rock steps alongside the waterfall was a little tricky. Some of the steps are higher than others, and all were a little wet. For safety, I held onto the handrail as I descended the steps—bad memories of my fall at Drift Creek back in April still fresh on my mind.
I returned to the parking lot and investigated the last waterfall at the park: Lower McDowell Creek Falls. Easy access to the creek gave me some nice vantage points of the waterfall in which to capture a couple of nice images.
The bottom line is this: For those who live in or near Lebanon, Sweet Home, Albany, or Corvallis, I definitely feel the trail is worth the drive. For others who must drive farther to get to the falls, you’ll have to decide if it’s worth it, especially considering more dramatic falls in both the Columbia River Gorge and Silver Falls are closer and provide longer and more challenging hikes. Visitors outside the area could make a day of it by visiting the waterfalls and then taking in some of the covered bridges in the area. That would make the drive certainly worth it in my opinion.
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