Upper Oneonta Falls - Columbia River Highway, Oregon
Posted by: 
Hikenutty
N 45° 35.060 W 122° 04.390
10T E 572302 N 5048283
Upper Oneonta Falls and the Oneonta Gorge are accessed from the trail adjacent to the roadside Horsetail Falls. The Forest Service has designated the area as a botanical area because of the unique aquatic and woodland plants that grow there.
Waymark Code: WM2X5B
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 01/03/2008
Views: 88
Upper Oneonta Falls marks the top portion of the Oneonta Gorge. The horsetail waterfall drops approximately 60 feet to the creek bed below. The U.S. Forest Service has designated the gorge as a botanical area because of the unique aquatic and woodland plants that grow there. The basalt walls of the gorge are home to a large variety of ferns, mosses, lichens and hepatics that grow only in the Columbia River Gorge.
There is also a set of falls named Lower Oneonta Falls, however that area has been preserved as a natural habitat. The only way to access these falls is to hike up Oneonta Creek from the creek's outlet at the Columbia River Highway. To get to where the entire lower falls is visible can require wading through water that in some places can be chest-deep, depending on the season and the amount of snow-melt.
To reach the upper falls park at the Horsetail Falls turnout, which is a few miles East of Multnomah Falls. This trail will take you under/behind Ponytail Falls, up to the Oneonta Gorge bridge and Oneonta Falls and then on to Triple Falls. From there you can push on and connect up to the Multnomah trail. It is about a 4 mile round trip to hike from Horsetail Falls up to Triple Falls and then back.
If you are interested in the short loop trails that feature waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge this U.S. Forest Service trail map will come in handy.