White River Falls State Park: A Secret Hideaway
The Deschutes River corridor features a secret hideaway full of history, raw power and stunning natural beauty. Just east of Tygh Valley, White River Falls State Park features a dynamic quarter-mile trail that leads visitors down through a canyon, carved smooth by eons of churning water, to a gorgeous, powerful waterfall.
Situated on a basalt shelf amongst a high desert loaded with blooming springtime flowers, the 90-foot White River falls tell the story of geological persistence and human resourcefulness.
Support from Lottery funding helps this remote gem stay clean, safe and accessible to visitors looking to experience a unique and picturesque natural marvel. A chasm behind the falls and the “stair steps” of multiple falls illustrate the effects of eons of water flow sculpting the basalt formations in the park.
Just down the river rests a former power plant that supplied electricity to Wasco & Sherman counties from 1910 to 1963. Visitors are free to approach and observe the plant through windows, but, for safety purposes, no access inside the building is allowed.
Remember your camera to get an image of the beautiful falls, the historical buildings, the blooms or the multitude of California ground squirrels that inhabit the park.
Oregon’s “Mini-Niagara”
Called Oregon’s mini-Niagara by some, the White River Falls thunder in the spring, but often calm down a bit as the water levels decrease over the summer months.
The park opens in early spring, just in time to see the desert flower. It closes again in autumn after the leaves turn color.
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