Triple Falls

While there are many waterfalls named Triple Falls, this one has the distinction of being obviously true to its name. Said to have a drop of some 132ft (though to be honest it looks smaller than the claimed height), this falls segments into three distinct side-by-side drops as the Oneonta Creek continues its way towards more waterfalls further downstream in the deep Oneonta Gorge.

On our trip, we worried that we wouldn't be able to see this falls due to a bridge that was taken out near the falls. Fortunately, that takes place past the falls and we didn't have any problems getting to its precarious top-down viewpoint. Perhaps the only difficulty was a few patches of snow thanks to the nasty weather we experienced the week we were at the Columbia River Gorge area and visited this falls.

This is one of the waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge that you're gonna have to earn. I did the hike as a roughly 3.4-mile out-and-back hike starting from the Oneonta Trail, but I've seen in the literature trip reports starting from Horsetail Falls in which the round trip distance would be 4.4 miles (yep, you'd be adding a mile or so going this way).

The trail climbs steeply in a handful of switchbacks as it climbs up into the hanging gorge. Once you're into the Oneonta Gorge, the trail straddles its contour as it continues to climb but not as steep as in the beginning. You'll be going past a fork leading down to the Middle Oneonta Falls and bridge en route. After one last bit of climbing, a short spur trail (unsigned) takes you right before the precarious overlook of the Triple Falls.

I don't think there's a safe way of getting to the base of the falls considering the steepness of the gorge below. As a matter of fact, the steepness and verticality of the gorge makes it impractical to try to get into the gorge at any other point along the hike to get here (though you can certainly hear the rushing waters below hinting that there are more waterfalls or rapids down there).

TRIP REPORTS

• March 30, 2009

GUIDEBOOKS / OTHER RESOURCES

NEARBY WATERFALLS

• Wahkeena Falls
• Horsetail Falls
• Bridal Veil Falls
• Latourell Falls
• Ponytail Falls
• Lower Oneonta Falls
• Multnomah Falls

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