<h5>Abiqua Falls Complete Review And Directions</h5>

Abiqua Falls

For the longest time I have heard tale of this elusive waterfall called Abiqua Falls. Iv’e seen it profiled on a couple of blog’s and seen many photos of it on Flicker Ect..
I recently made the trip over to Scott’s Mills Oregon and finally got to photograph these falls. I have yet to see anyone give a very detailed account of what to expect and give precise directions.
Ok here is the skinny on what I experienced. Getting there: Take Hwy #213 or the Cascade Highway to the town of Markum. When you see the Markum Inn you will turn off onto S Nowlens Bridge rd, it only go East. Take Nowlens Bridge rd approximately 2 miles until you T-Bone into Crooked Finger Rd NE, turn left. At this point reset you’re trip odometer. You will now travel exactly 9.5 miles until the road ends or at least the pavement ends. Reset you’re trip odometer once again and travel exactly 1.4 miles. Turn right onto Cf300, a very illegible white sign on a tree on you’re right will denote this road as well. You will basically travel as far down this road until you cant go any further. You will pass several clear-cut areas and intersections; always go straight and downhill through these. The road will deteriorate as you get further down and some say passenger cars can make it. I would strongly discourage any thing other than a high clearance vehicle with 4wheel drive. When you come to an old yellow locked gate you have reached you’re destination by vehicle . Park in a small turnout just prior to the gate; there is maybe room for three vehicles here.

Abiqua Vertical

Don’t do what I did and travel by foot beyond the gate and down the road, I added about 4 miles of unnecessary hiking to my trip. To find the trail, I mean goat path to the falls simply walk up river or the direction you came for approximately 300 ft. You will see a fairly heavily used footpath heading down towards the river. You will also see two large white No-Trespassing signs that warn against hunting and firearms ect.. posted on trees at the beginning of the trail.
Did I mention goat trail? The path down to the river is steep and fairly treacherous. There are lots of possibilities to turn an ankle or slip and maybe damage yourself or equipment Be Careful.
Once you reach the river you will have dropped maybe 1000 ft or so, head upstream the best you can until you reach the falls. It’s only about a 5-7 min walk once you have reached the river.
The falls are beautiful and well worth the effort; however I was struck at the size of the area I was expecting it to be much larger. A wide angle lens is a must, I shot with a 16-45mm on an APS C censor and could barely encompass the whole scene. Those of you shooting full frame or one of the 10-20mm will have no problem. Also keep in mind the spray factor; I was constantly wiping my lens or filters off. If you come in late summer then you’re options open up quite a bit as you can wade across to the other side or stand in the stream to avoid the composition obstacles I faced.

Happy Adventures Shawn..