Hiking Paulina Falls
Jul. 7th, 2025 10:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerOregon Cascades Travelog #3
La Pine, OR - Tue, 1 Jul 2025, 4:30pm
Tuesday afternoon on our trip I finished work early— yes, Tuesday was a work day for me— and we headed out for an afternoon hike. We picked Paulina Falls in the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. It was basically on our way from Klamath Falls to Bend for the night.
Paulina Falls is a short hike from the trailhead. And by short I mean the upper viewpoint shown in the pic above is about 150 meters from the parking lot. It's a walk in the park. We had the place virtually to ourselves, though, because a) today's a weekday and b) the weather is turning crummy. It's been kind of overcast all day, but on our drive up to the higher elevations here (we're at about 6,300' vs. down in the valley at 4,200') it's started to sprinkle rain. The rain's not enough to bother us. We simply pulled on our light rain jackets for the hike.
Speaking of hike, yes, there is more than just the 150 meter stroll to the upper viewpoint. There's also the lower viewpoint.
The lower viewpoint is an easy walk down a switchback path along the side of the canyon. It's a bit a huff-and-puff trek back up, though, especially for us, not acclimated to the altitude of over a mile.
These falls are fed by water from Paulina Lake. Unlike some double falls we've seen where the two falls are actually different creek that happen to meet as they fall over the same mountain, this is actually one creek. It just splits around some rocks upstream and falls over this cliff in two places. You can read more about the geology of the area in my blog from our last visit here... six years ago.
Something I did this time that's a bit different from six years ago was venturing out on an unofficial middle viewpoint. You see, there are well designated spots for the upper and lower viewpoint. But IMO the best vantage for seeing the falls is from one of the switchbacks on the canyon trail down to the lower viewpoint. And it's not just at the switchback but maybe 30' around the canyon wall from it, over a brush pile designed to keep people out and then hopping and climbing along some precarious perches on the canyon wall. Oh, you daredevil, me.
La Pine, OR - Tue, 1 Jul 2025, 4:30pm
Tuesday afternoon on our trip I finished work early— yes, Tuesday was a work day for me— and we headed out for an afternoon hike. We picked Paulina Falls in the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. It was basically on our way from Klamath Falls to Bend for the night.
Paulina Falls is a short hike from the trailhead. And by short I mean the upper viewpoint shown in the pic above is about 150 meters from the parking lot. It's a walk in the park. We had the place virtually to ourselves, though, because a) today's a weekday and b) the weather is turning crummy. It's been kind of overcast all day, but on our drive up to the higher elevations here (we're at about 6,300' vs. down in the valley at 4,200') it's started to sprinkle rain. The rain's not enough to bother us. We simply pulled on our light rain jackets for the hike.
Speaking of hike, yes, there is more than just the 150 meter stroll to the upper viewpoint. There's also the lower viewpoint.
The lower viewpoint is an easy walk down a switchback path along the side of the canyon. It's a bit a huff-and-puff trek back up, though, especially for us, not acclimated to the altitude of over a mile.
These falls are fed by water from Paulina Lake. Unlike some double falls we've seen where the two falls are actually different creek that happen to meet as they fall over the same mountain, this is actually one creek. It just splits around some rocks upstream and falls over this cliff in two places. You can read more about the geology of the area in my blog from our last visit here... six years ago.
Something I did this time that's a bit different from six years ago was venturing out on an unofficial middle viewpoint. You see, there are well designated spots for the upper and lower viewpoint. But IMO the best vantage for seeing the falls is from one of the switchbacks on the canyon trail down to the lower viewpoint. And it's not just at the switchback but maybe 30' around the canyon wall from it, over a brush pile designed to keep people out and then hopping and climbing along some precarious perches on the canyon wall. Oh, you daredevil, me.
