The 42-foot-high and 1,500-foot-wide falls occurs 26 river miles upstream from the Willamette's confluence with the Columbia River. About the Willamette Falls: The Willamette Falls is a horseshoe-shaped block waterfall caused by a basalt shelf in the river bottom. The alternate design seeks to support the Willamette Falls Legacy Project’s four core values, the riverwalk conceptual design, and meets Grand Ronde’s site cleanup and development goals.Willamette Falls is the second most powerful waterfall in North America and an important Oregon historical and cultural treasure. Soon, it won’t be.
The willamette falls are historic and beautiful, they may be small but oh so worth seeing.
Soon, it won’t be.The first step in the Willamette Falls Legacy Project is already taking shape: a new riverwalk that connects historic downtown Oregon City to Willamette Falls along the Willamette River. For more information about trips, please email them at The walk to the museum is about a quarter of a mile, so make sure you dress for the weather.
"It has a lot of information about the how the locks were designed and the falls. It's worth the wait.The pathway down to the locks has about three staircases, and can be a little tricky to find. "They miss out on all the history and information about the falls and what it has meant to Oregon City and the state. In creating the riverwalk, the project partners are transforming this abandoned site into a world-class public space.The Willamette Falls Legacy Project is a partnership of Oregon City, Clackamas County, Metro and the State of Oregon, with the support and participation of the site’s private owners, stakeholders and thousands of community members. For more than 150 years, its awe-inspiring beauty has been closed to the public. The museum is housed in the old lockmaster's office, so you have the perfect vantage point when boats come through the lock system. But if you are traveling through in the winter it’s worth the trip as well. "The museum is self guided and we urge people to sign in the guest book so we know how many people are visiting," Carter says as she walks up the stairs in the museum. "People stop by the viewpoints and they look at the falls for 20 minutes and leave," says Sandy Carter, director of the Willamette Falls Heritage Foundation. If you want to make sure you can see a boat go through the locks, contact the lockmaster's office at 503-656-3381 and they can tell you when boats are scheduled to go through.To board the Belle of the Falls: Take Interstate 205 to the McLoughlin Boulevard/Oregon City exit then travel north on McLoughlin Boulevard to Clackamette Drive.
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde presented an alternative riverfront concept they’ve developed for the first phase of the riverwalk. "By visiting the museum, which is about a quarter-mile walk from the West Linn Police Department parking lot, you could even get the special treat of seeing boats go through the locks and watch how the locks operate.
Since the museum is surrounded by a working business, make sure you watch out for forklifts and other traffic.There is so much history about the locks themselves, that you could spend an afternoon reading and learning about how the locks were built, how they were operated in their heyday and what their fate is today.If industry and the history of the locks around the falls aren't your cup of tea and you would rather get up close and personal with the falls, a trip on the Belle of the Falls is in order.Available during the summer months during the weekends, the small sternwheeler will take you to the base of the falls and let you feel the spray hit your face. Turn left on Clackamette Drive to the transit dockMost people don't know there is more to visiting Willamette Falls than just stopping at one of the two viewpoints alongside Interstate 205 or Highway 99E. Costs vary from $38 for a family pass to $15 for adults and $7 for children between the ages of three and 12.
You just sit and wait and wait and wait FOREVER! Ask gatehouse personnel - a paper mill straddles the falls - for directions is a good idea of you are unclear where to go. Summer time when the sun sets is perfect. Willamette Falls is the second most powerful waterfall in North America and an important Oregon historical and cultural treasure. The one-hour tour will take you to the base of the falls.
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It's a natural resource with a long history that continues today along the Willamette River. Willamette falls is one of the worst emergency rooms I've visited. Reservations on the 49-passanger voyages are not available except for bigger groups. For more than 150 years, its awe-inspiring beauty has been closed to the public.
"The museum, located along the oldest continuously operating multi-lift lock and canal system in the United States, offers a glimpse into the history of not only the development that today surrounds the falls, but also how native Americans used the falls as fishing grounds.