Wallowa Falls
Wallowa County, Oregon
Your visit at a glance
- Waterfall height
- Not recorded
- Location
- Wallowa County, Oregon
- Access status
- Partial guide: user paths and a steep scramble; not an official trail
- The walk
- 1.0-mile loop
- Ground & access
- User routes with some scrambling and exposed, unfenced viewpoints above a gorge. Part of the river bar has no defined trail.
Wallowa Falls is a 30-foot, two-tier chute in the narrow gorge of the West Fork Wallowa River above Wallowa Lake. It is not on an official trail; the route uses user paths and a steep scramble. From the upper end of the trailhead parking area, go past a green gate on a gravel maintenance track through the hike-in campground to its end, then follow a path to the river. Head upstream along the cobble bars to where the river hugs a cliff, and look left for a steep scramble trail up. It climbs above the gorge to a viewpoint over the falls. Continue up the slope, keep right at a junction to more viewpoints, then scramble up to the West Fork Wallowa River-Chief Joseph Mountain Trail junction and bear left to descend to the trailhead. The nearby hydroelectric project on the East Fork is also called Wallowa Falls.
Plan your visit
Wallowa Lake Trailhead at the south end of Wallowa Lake, user route up the West Fork Wallowa River to the gorge viewpoints, returning on the West Fork Trail
Oregon Hikers gives 1.0 mile for the loop from the Wallowa Lake Trailhead to the Wallowa Falls viewpoints and back on the West Fork Wallowa River Trail.
User routes with some scrambling and exposed, unfenced viewpoints above a gorge. Part of the river bar has no defined trail.
Where to start
Wallowa Lake Trailhead at the end of Power House Road, 0.5 mile from the signed fork at the south end of Wallowa Lake on OR 351. Restrooms and picnic area.
Timing & water
Oregon Hikers lists summer through mid-fall.
Before you go
Oregon Hikers lists a day-use fee of $10 for residents or $12 for non-residents, or an annual State Parks pass.
Visitor informationVisit sources
- Oregon Hikers Field Guide: Wallowa Falls Loop Hike
- Oregon Hikers Field Guide: Wallowa Falls Loop Hike
- Oregon Hikers Field Guide: Wallowa Falls Loop Hike
- Oregon Hikers Field Guide: Wallowa Falls Loop Hike
- Oregon Hikers Field Guide: Wallowa Falls Loop Hike
- Oregon Hikers Field Guide: Wallowa Falls Loop Hike
- Oregon Hikers Field Guide: Wallowa Lake Trailhead
- Oregon Hikers Field Guide: Wallowa Lake Trailhead
More waterfalls nearby
Within 40 straight-line miles. Road and trail distances will differ.
- BC Creek FallsEstablished trail from Wallowa Lake Trailhead to a footbridge at the fallsWallowa County, OR0.3 miNW
- Ice FallsPartial guide: the trail climbs past the falls, but the viewing point and its distance are not described480 ft (146.3 m) · Wallowa County, OR3.4 miSW
- Slick Rock Creek FallsWilderness trail to the base of the slidesWallowa County, OR4.7 miW
- Hunter FallsShort unmaintained trail from the Lostine River RoadWallowa County, OR10 miNW
- Minam FallsUnion County, OR17 miW