The Rogue Umpqua Scenic Byway Waterfalls

From our base camp at Crater Lake RV Park, we drove north to highway 138 and started our waterfall hiking.

Our first stop was Clearwater Falls. The path to the falls is right off of the picnic area and it is a super short accessible path.  The viewing area is directly at the base of the falls, which cascade over and under the mossy rocks and logs. The water runs down into a crystal clear creek and offers lots of swimming opportunities.

Clearwater Falls

Our second stop was Whitehorse Falls. This is another easy, accessible stop with parking directly at the waterfalls.  The falls cascade down with pools for swimming.  There is a nice viewing platform or you can climb down and view the waterfall from the bottom. On a hot day, it felt nice to have the breeze from the cool water. This stop also has a very nice picnic area, a campground and restrooms right at the waterfall.

Whitehorse Falls

Our third stop was Watson Falls. Here we talked to some other hikers and because of some knee issues, decided to skip this one. I’d love to come back and see it.

Our last hike was Toketee Falls. If you are only going to choose one waterfall to hike in this area, this is the one and it is the reason we skipped Watson Falls, we were saving the steps for this one.  Despite the very many stairs, it is not a super long hike and mostly wooded.  The stairs are broken up into bite-size sections, and there are lots of viewing platforms of the river as you make your way.  At the beginning of the trail there is a sign that states that there are only 97 steps up and 125 steps down. We believe the sign was placed there for the naïve and is a mean form of trickery. We counted 282 total steps. The total length of the trail is about .85 miles round trip. At the beginning of the trailhead there is an information placard which explains the 12 foot in diameter redwood pipeline at the trailhead which is part of the dam and hydroelectric project.  It was amazing to us that the water was spraying out in all directions.

Toketee Falls

North Umpqua River