Three Lynx Falls 12/24, Upper Falls 2/1

[RobFromRedland]

Keep it coming! That whole area is fascinating to me, and has a bunch of historical happenings. My other hobby is old railroad lines/grades. Reading about the railway and the construction of the town and hydro project has been very interesting. Thanks again!

Ditto! This is fascinating info.... Thanks for posting it. If you have more info about the area, please post it. Links to other info would be appreciated as well.

Another tidbit of info - the Three Lynx area was used in the movie "The Postman". The area was dubbed 'Elvis'.

[aywolfpac]

Beautiful. I'm heading to Estacada this weekend to visit family and was looking for something to do Saturday morning so I think I found it.

[BrianEdwards]

Good to see ya back here on PH's, aywolfpac. Extra points if you make it to the upper falls

[aywolfpac]

Good to see ya back here on PH's, aywolfpac. Extra points if you make it to the upper falls

Definitely won't make the upper falls this weekend. I'll just have to wait until you get there and see your pictures. I always check in on you guys, just down have much to say usually.

[BrianEdwards]

Cool Aaron, see ya 'round

[Rustygoat]

That's a really nice waterfall. I was up there yesterday and there was about 6 inches of snow on the steps of the damn. I didn't go any farther than the damn but I was able see the waterfall looking upstream. If it wasn't for the snow I would have gone up farther.We ended up going up to look for Boyer and Winslow Falls hoping there was less snow over there. No luck, we got the car stuck in the snow trying to get there. After getting out we went back and hiked down the old logging road to look for North Fork Clackamas Falls. When we reached the old quarry it was getting late so we didn't scramble down the hill. Not the greatest day out but I did get to see Three Lynx Falls through the trees.

[BrianEdwards]

Hey Tim, what'd ya think about that road leading to the dam? Ain't that a scenic stretch of forest.

Regarding Boyer and Winslow, I've made two treks in there with a friend. We hiked a long ways up and down those creeks, and never found even a 2 foot drop Not saying they don't exist, just that where they're labeled on a certain site, there's no falls or sign of drops anywhere. The land is relatively flat as well. Whiskey Falls exists however, but its not real scenic, more just a cascade.

On the North Fork, you were wise to turn around when u did. Once you reach the orange ribbon at the second quarry, the real adventure begins. It's quite steep and thick in places, and the last 80+ ft is aided by a rope on the muddy slope. More info Here

Funny story about that rope. Last year my father asked me if I'd been to a waterfall on the North Fork of the Clackamas. I said yes. He asked if I found a rope on the slope leading to the base of the falls. I said yes. He said that back in 1984, his dad was working at the Oregon City Paper mill and was given rope on occasion, big rope. Well in '84 my dad took that big black rope down with him and tied it to a tree, so him and a his fishing friends could get back out of there easier. It's still there 18 years later being used by kayakers and waterfall gurus.

[Sore Feet]

Regarding Boyer and Winslow, I've made two treks in there with a friend. We hiked a long ways up and down those creeks, and never found even a 2 foot drop Not saying they don't exist, just that where they're labeled on a certain site, there's no falls or sign of drops anywhere. The land is relatively flat as well. Whiskey Falls exists however, but its not real scenic, more just a cascade.

Wish I had better data on Boyer and Winslow. They were listed as harboring natural barrier waterfalls on a web page I found somewhere on the ODFW's website some years ago that was documenting fish barriers. It also listed the falls on the North Fork, Falls Creek, South Fork, Memaloose Creek, Roaring River, Oak Grove Fork, etc. So I have little reason to think there aren't actually falls on either creek. However, as this list was specifically of fish barriers - not features identified as waterfalls - they might actually just have been really steep cascading sections of the creeks. There's a good chance I've got the locations wrong too, but given the topography and geology of the area, I marked them where I thought there most likely would be falls.

Also, FWIW, the ODFW data says there are waterfalls on Fall, Bee, Bedford, Whisky, Boyer and Winslow Creeks. The one on Fall Creek is legit, the others I know little to nothing about.

[BrianEdwards]

Now I am curious about Boyer and Winslow. Obviously somewhere they have drops that ODFW has located. Me and my friend hiked from Boyers confluence, all the way up to Winslow. Up Winslow til we came to an old roadbed, back down to Boyer and up it several hundred feet. The land is so flat, the drops must be up near the headwater areas, idk. Either way they're gonna be small.

The ones on that list that have falls I've seen pictures of or been to personally are:

Fall Creek
Bee Creek
Whiskey Creek

Bedford appears to have one very near where its labeled on your site. Apple maps gives a good impression of one there.

Another thing, there's apparently another Falls on the N Fork Clackamas River, just downstream of the Whiskey Creek confluence. Pete Giordano found it. He stated it was 20' tall. His trip report of it is gone now though.

Apple maps does show this just downstream of whiskey:



I'd like to get the known falls documented before I chase too many of those ^

Two weekends from now, I already planned to document Fall and Bee creeks before this discussion arose. The snow currently has most of the others blocked at the moment. Should be a successful winter if things don't take a turn

[Rustygoat]

Hey Brian, that walk back to the damn was very nice. It looked pretty untouched with the exception of the road and the damn. We were actually planning on going to Barrier Falls and then Bagby that day but saw your report on Three Lynx Falls and figured we should check it out on the way. I didn't know there was a little town there. The snow there just changed our plans for the day.
I found Whiskey Falls last July with my kids and by the time we got back to the car we didn't have much time to look for Boyer and Winslow. I still had those two, North Fork Clackamas Falls and Bee Creek Falls on my list of waterfalls to see in that area. Thanks for posting that link to your report on the North Fork Falls....I'm glad I read that before heading down there.