Triple Falls

Columbia River Gorge / Oneonta Gorge, Oregon, USA

About Triple Falls


Hiking Distance: 3.6 miles round trip
Suggested Time: 2 hours

Date first visited: 2009-03-30
Date last visited: 2017-08-17

Waterfall Latitude: 45.57854
Waterfall Longitude: -122.07252

Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

Triple Falls was definitely one of the more distinct waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge area. While most of the falls in this waterfall-rich area could be all similar in appearance with either a straight plunge or sloping cascade, this waterfall featured a three-segment drop of the Oneonta Creek that pretty much lived up to its name. With a reported height ranging from as little as 64ft to as much as 100ft, it was arguably up there with Lower Oneonta Falls as the most beautiful of the four officially-named waterfalls on Oneonta Creek. Since it was the furthest of the waterfalls on Oneonta Creek, that meant that it required the most effort to reach. According to the signage at the trailhead, the hike was at least 1.8 miles each way (or 3.6 miles round trip) though my GPS logs started becoming inaccurate due to the rugged and steep terrain which undermined the GPS reception in some stretches so I couldn’t test the claims made by the signage. The hike also involved quite a bit of climbing with a net gain of over 600ft that was steep in spots and even had a few sections of flatness and elevation drop.

I began the hike from the Oneonta Gorge Trailhead (see directions below), which promptly started climbing a long incline. The trail quickly rose well above the Historic Columbia River Highway as the trail continued heading west before reaching a trail junction at about 0.3-mile from the trailhead. Keeping left to make a sharp turn (essentially making this a switchback), the trail climbed some more as it approached the Oneonta Gorge. At about a half-mile from the trailhead, just when the trail was about to bend and turn into the Oneonta Gorge, I noticed signed spurs saying “Viewpoint”.

Triple_Falls_CRG_043_08172017
The Middle Oneonta Falls seen roughly after the first 1/3 of the Triple Falls hike
The spur trail descended to the left and revealed glimpses of the Columbia River Gorge looking west. With a little more scrambling on use trails, I was ultimately able to reach a precarious rock outcrop with a sheer drop below and a commanding view of the Columbia River and its surroundings in both directions. When I had my fill of these views, I returned the way I came, but in hindsight, I realized that the spur trail actually regained the Oneonta Gorge Trail in a different spot than when I got started to complete the detour (which would have saved a few minutes, I’d imagine). Either way, I continued hiking towards the Triple Falls as the trail now skirted along the Oneonta Gorge.

The trail continued to climb, but it was a little more gradual than the steeper incline in the beginning. After about 0.6 miles from the trailhead (or 0.1-mile from the viewpoint detour), I reached another signposted trail junction. The trail to the left descended a couple of switchbacks before reaching a footbridge with the Middle Oneonta Falls just upstream from it. Just downstream from this bridge was the brink of the Lower Oneonta Falls, which I could hear but couldn’t see. While there were some sketchy use trails that appeared to scramble closer to Oneonta Creek by that waterfall, I didn’t pursue them. Meanwhile, beyond the bridge, the trail would climb some switchbacks before heading east towards the Ponytail Falls and Horsetail Falls. Since I was more focused on the Triple Falls, I turned around and headed back up to the Oneonta Gorge Trail to resume the hike.

Triple_Falls_CRG_104_08172017
A rock slide traverse that was around the half-way point of the Triple Falls hike
The trail continued climbing as it followed a lush terrain flanked by steep slopes with the odd vertical cliff. After another quarter-mile or so, the trail then reachd a narrow and fairly precarious traverse of a rock slide. The rocks here were loose and trail work had been done to flatten out the trail surface as much as possible. I had to make this traverse, which led to a steep and somewhat eroded switchback before continuing on. At this point, the trail now hugged even narrower ledges as the terrain somewhat undulated before crossing a couple of bridges (with Upper Oneonta Falls heard but unseen way down below) at roughly another quarter-mile beyond the slide area.

Beyond the bridges, the trail then ascended steeply up another pair of switchbacks before finally peaking then reaching an unsigned spur on the left at around 1.2 miles from the trailhead. The spur led down to a sloping looking peering right down at the impressive Triple Falls. There was a little wooden plank on the group marking perhaps some infrastructure that was once set up here to look at the falls from here, but I suspected that erosion over time did away with that so now I had to use my best judgement to get the good views while being careful not get too close to the edge as the cliff dropped right into Oneonta Creek.

Although the Oneonta Trail kept going further towards a footbridge just upstream of the falls (which I could see from this viewpoint), this was my turnaround point of the hike. With the exception of a few short climbs, the trail was mostly downhill on the way back to the trailhead so I was able to do the return hike a bit faster than hiking to the falls. When I returned to the car, I wound up spending about 2 hours on the trail hiking solo. And since each time I did this hike was in the early morning, I found myself alone on the trail for long stretches. That said, had I started later in the day when there would likely be more people on the trail. And under those circumstances, then I could foresee moments where I might encounter hikers going in opposite directions where the trail was narrow, and we’d have to work out who would get to pass first while the other party who have to wait.

Finally, I have to make one final comment about this hike. The arson-caused Eagle Creek Fire that started in early September happened before I was able to publish this writeup. From looking at news coverage of the aerial footage surveying the damage, it appeared that the Oneonta Gorge was scorched. Given the steep terrain of the gorge, this trail will probably be closed for the foreseeable future as the lack of vegetation will destabilize the soil, and inevitably landslides undermining the usability of the trail would occur. So until this area finally recovers and the trail may (or may not) get rebuilt or at least re-routed, this writeup will now serve as a reminder of what the area once was.

Triple_Falls_CRG_001_08172017
Triple_Falls_CRG_003_08172017
Triple_Falls_CRG_007_08172017
Triple_Falls_CRG_009_08172017
Triple_Falls_CRG_019_08172017
Triple_Falls_CRG_023_08172017
Triple_Falls_CRG_108_08172017
Triple_Falls_CRG_109_08172017
Triple_Falls_CRG_031_08172017
Columbia_River_Gorge_299_03302009
Triple_Falls_CRG_034_08172017
Triple_Falls_CRG_036_08172017
Triple_Falls_CRG_037_08172017
Triple_Falls_CRG_041_08172017
Triple_Falls_CRG_047_08172017
Columbia_River_Gorge_319_03302009
Triple_Falls_CRG_049_08172017
Triple_Falls_CRG_052_08172017
Triple_Falls_CRG_054_08172017
Triple_Falls_CRG_058_08172017
Triple_Falls_CRG_062_08172017
Columbia_River_Gorge_317_03302009
Triple_Falls_CRG_066_08172017
Columbia_River_Gorge_321_03302009
Triple_Falls_CRG_086_08172017
Triple_Falls_CRG_081_08172017
Columbia_River_Gorge_330_03302009
Columbia_River_Gorge_338_03302009
Triple_Falls_CRG_080_08172017
Columbia_River_Gorge_347_03302009
Triple_Falls_CRG_121_08172017


The small trailhead parking area for the Oneonta Trail was about 0.5 mile west of the Horsetail Falls parking lot and 2 miles east of the parking lot for the Multnomah Falls Lodge along the Historic Columbia River Highway (or Old Scenic Highway).

Coming from the east, we would take exit 35 (Ainsworth State Park) off the westbound I-84, then followed the NE Frontage Road for about 1.7 miles to the parking lot for Horsetail Falls, then continue the remaining half-mile to the Oneonta Gorge Trailhead. The freewat exit was about 9 miles (15 minutes drive) west of Cascade Locks.

Coming from the west, we accessed the Old Columbia River Highway by taking the Bridal Veil Exit (exit 28) off the eastbound I-84, then keeping left to follow the Old Columbia River Highway east for about 5 miles to the Oneonta Gorge Trailhead on the left. The exit 28 was about 25 miles (about 30 minutes drive without traffic) east of Portland, where the I-84 freeway began.

For some geographical context, Portland was about 49 miles (over an hour drive) west of Cascade Locks, 75 miles (90 minutes drive) west of Hood River, 80 miles (1.5 hours drive) east of Cannon Beach, 112 miles (under 2 hours drive) north of Eugene, 274 miles (over 4 hours drive) north of Medford, 173 miles (about 2.5 hours drive) south of Seattle, Washington, 440 miles (7 hours drive) west of Boise, Idaho, and 423 miles (6.5 hours drive) north of Redding, California.

Find A Place To Stay

Fully checking out the Triple Falls from the precarious lookout


Checking out the Oneonta Falls in every way possible from the bridge

Related Top 10 Lists

Tagged with: columbia river gorge, oneonta, multnomah, oregon, waterfall, pacific northwest



Visitor Comments:

Got something you'd like to share or say to keep the conversation going? Feel free to leave a comment below...

No users have replied to the content on this page


Share your thoughts about what you've read on this page

You must be logged in to submit content. Refresh this page after you have logged in.

Visitor Reviews of this Waterfall:

If you have a waterfall story or write-up that you'd like to share, feel free to click the button below and fill out the form...

No users have submitted a write-up/review of this waterfall


Have you been to a waterfall? Submit a write-up/review and share your experiences or impressions

Review A Waterfall

Nearest Waterfalls

The Waterfaller Newsletter

The Waterfaller Newsletter is where we curate the wealth of information on the World of Waterfalls website and deliver it to you in bite-sized chunks in your email inbox. You'll also get exclusive content like...

  • Waterfall Wednesdays
  • Insider Tips
  • User-submitted Waterfall Write-up of the Month
  • and the latest news and updates both within the website as well as around the wonderful world of waterfalls


How To Build A Profitable Travel Blog In 4 Steps