Driving down a gravel service road for what seems like hours, dodging fallen trees and potholes, nary another vehicle in sight. Finally there’s the sign! A small brown sign at the intersection of a dirt road with ruts so deep the bottom of your car is scraping on the center hump. Uh oh! No one said you need an off-road vehicle to get there.
Welcome to Douglas county’s “backwoods” waterfalls. There is no parking lot, no outhouse, and minimal signage. When you google this type of waterfall, sometimes some kind person has mentioned the need for a high-clearance vehicle, but not always…
Umpqua National Forest is criss-crossed with service roads to get you through the mountainous terrain. As you’re bumping up and down these semi-maintained roads you can find all kinds of hidden gems.
Lemolo Falls
The south trail to Lemolo Falls is one of those gems. There are two trails that go to Lemolo Falls. The north trail is reached by way of a paved road and goes along the top of the falls. That’s no fun. My brother and I set out to find the south trail, and the drive was quite an adventure. We took the south trail, which is a three mile, out and back, if you park on the gravel road to avoid the ruts. Before we took three steps, we were opening the trunk to get the bug spray. Hordes of hungry mosquitoes flocked to us, threatening to eat us alive. Even with the spray I could hear them buzzing around my head.
The steep downhill trail is covered with large rocks at first, and then flattens out and gets rooty as it heads down into the canyon. It wends downward through a series of long switchbacks. It’s not a difficult trail (on the way down) except in one place where a large log blocks the path. We had to lay flat and skooch under it. The path also got pretty narrow and muddy at the end, as we got close to the waterfall.
The river is surprisingly swift and the waterfall is magnificent, falling 165 feet* with plenty of misty spray. The trail gets you close enough to get damp, and on a hot summer day we would be climbing down to play in the pool.
This is a good hike and a wonderful destination. I was surprised at its remote location and then not so surprised by the lack of people on the trail. If you are feeling a little adventurous, grab your bug spray and check it out!
*There is some discrepancy between agencies as to the actual height of Lemolo Falls and I believe it is to be re-measured in the near future.
Deer Lick Falls
Another backwoods waterfall we found in the Umpqua National Forest is Deer Lick Falls. After an hour and 34 minute drive on a gravel road that went over and around a mountain, we found a small dirt turnout with a non-descript sign board and a steep trail. We had lost our GPS connection and only found it because there was a pickup truck parked there and we could hear hoops and hollers coming from below!
The trail is short, leading down to a small, three-tiered waterfall and a pool of blue green water. Lovely and quiet, someone has built a small rock tower like you might find in a zen garden. There is a sharp drop-off at the edge of the brown rocks and it looks quite deep. We took a dip in the shallow water to refresh, but it was mighty cold!
We’re planning another trip once the weather warms up because the Umpqua has some amazing swimming holes!
For more information about these two waterfalls, you can visit the National Forest website.
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Great to find these obscure little spots. These are my favorite . Beautiful sights worth checking out and exploring! Not full of other people 🙂 A wonderful blog thank you!
Thanks! The hunt was part of the adventure! There were supposedly three waterfalls near Umpqua Hotsprings that we never did find.
These two travel destinations are certainly for the adventurous trekkers! I love the names and your photos are absolutely loaded with the energy of these places 😀
Thank you Black Knight! I always love reading your comments! 🙂
You always find the most amazing places to visit and write about. This one is certainly no exception! Just beautiful! I love hiking vicariously through your photos! 🙂
Thanks Leona! If you think of any you want to see let me know!
Wow, those places look amazing!
Thanks Barbara! I was without a laptop for a couple of weeks and catching up, so I’ll post another article this evening. Hope you loooove it! 🙂
Love the places you find, and with the weather being so warm there now, looks like it’s a good time for “another trip”.
Thanks Mike! I’m making plans! 🙂