Coquille River Falls Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
- Start point: Coquille River Falls Trailhead
- End point: Coquille River Falls
- Hike type: In and out
- Distance: 1.1 miles
- Elevation gain: 450 feet
- High point: 1,685 feet
- Difficulty: Easy
- Seasons: All year, except heavy snow years
- Family Friendly: Yes
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: No
Contents |
Hike Description
The South Fork Coquille River delivers a couple of impressive drops at its confluence with Drowned Out Creek, which presents its own attractive, bouldery cascade. The waterfalls are nestled in rugged, lush ‘Cataract Canyon’, which shelters old-growth Douglas-fir and Port Orford cedar, with moss-draped big-leaf maples adding to the ambience. In winter, the waterfalls really thunder, but it’s dangerous to scramble around the difficult terrain. In summer, flows are reduced but still pretty.
The trail descends into an old-growth forest of Douglas-fir, western hemlock, and Port Orford cedar. Some of the latter have died from infection by the Phytophthora lateralis pathogen, which rots their root systems. Sword fern carpets the understory. Five switchbacks take you down to a footbridge. You may notice some large, rotting snags from a long-ago fire among the living conifers. You’ll traverse down to a switchback where a sign indicates you can access the upper falls by crossing Drowned Out Creek. In summer, this may be possible by teetering across an old log and then scrambling up, but most of the year, it would be a dicy foray with everything wet and slippery.
So continue down three switchbacks to a big Douglas-fir with a view of both the upper and lower Coquille River Falls that is mostly blocked by a mossy maple. A tight switchback takes you to a spray-splashed rock ledge close to the 65-foot lower falls, which split around a rock prominence although this will be submerged at full winter flow. Part of the 50-foot block-like upper falls can still be seen from here. Right in front of you, Drowned Out Creek pours over its own small falls to join the South Fork Coquille.
Maps
- Maps: Hike Finder
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Powers and Gold Beach Ranger Districts
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Siskiyou National Forest
Fees, Regulations, etc.
- Restrooms, picnic table at the South Fork Wayside on FR 33
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Coquille River Falls Hike
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Coquille River Falls Hike
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- Hiking Waterfalls in Oregon by Adam Sawyer
- Extraordinary Oregon! by Matt Reeder
- Oregon’s Ancient Forests: A Hiking Guide by Chandra LeGue
- Hiking Southern Oregon by Art Bernstein & Victor Harris
- 100 Hikes: Oregon Coast by William L. Sullivan
- 75 Hikes in Oregon’s Coast Range & Siskiyous by Rhonda & George Ostertag
- Oregon Hiking by Sean Patrick Hill
- Pacific Northwest Hiking by Scott Leonard & Sean Patrick Hill
- Oregon Coast Camping & Hiking by Tom Stienstra & Sean Patrick Hill
- Out Our Back Door: Driving Tours and Day-Hikes in Oregon’s Coos Region by Tom Baake
- Waterfall Lover’s Guide: Pacific Northwest by Gregory A. Plumb
- Waterfalls of the Pacific Northwest by David L. Anderson
- Hiking Waterfalls in Oregon by Adam Sawyer
More Links
- Coquille River Falls Trail #1257 (USFS)
- Coquille River Falls RNA (Pacific Northwest Natural Atlas Network)
- Elk Creek & Coquille River Falls and Azalea Lake (wanderingyuncks)
- Epic Coos County Adventure - Part I (oregonwaterfalls)
- Waterfalls of the Oregon Coast Range (Pacific Northwest Adventures)
- Coquille River Falls (Northwest Waterfall Survey)
- Drowned Out Creek Falls (Northwest Waterfall Survey)
- Elk Creek and Coquille River Falls (Oregon Waterfalls)
- The Geology of Waterfalls Along the Coquille River (Geological Society of America/USFS)
Contributors
- bobcat (creator)