A 200 foot class cascade spreading like lace over a mossy wall in the Three Sisters Wilderness, reachable only while the McKenzie Highway is open.
Year round
Big water window
see the season section
Spring fed
What drives it
Proxy Creek
Climatology
Data on this page
Proxy Creek is ungauged
USFS Willamette
Managed by
their rules govern
Trail status, closures and safety rules belong to each falls' managing agency, named and linked on every page.
The season
What fills Proxy Falls, and when
Proxy Creek is widely described as spring-fed off the young lava aquifers of the McKenzie country, which would explain why the falls photographs full even in autumn; the Forest Service page does not say so, so treat that spring-fed label as ours, not theirs. What the agency does say is decisive for planning: the access road, Highway 242, closes in winter, so the practical season is roughly early summer to the first snow.
What the agency itself says
Access is dependent on McKenzie Highway (OR Hwy 242), which is closed in the winter.
Willamette National Forest (US Forest Service)Multnomah Falls in autumn: a Columbia Gorge falls that keeps respectable flow year round, and the standard against which most falls seasons get measured. “Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Multnomah Falls, fall color - 3” — Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region — Public domain
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Current flow at Proxy Falls
Spring-fed water advertises itself: the travertine terraces below Havasu Falls are built by minerals the spring water carries out of the aquifer, and the blue green color holds in every season. “Havasu falls Arizona” — Stolz Gary M, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — Public domain
Getting there
Access, in the agency's words and ours
The loop trail enters the Three Sisters Wilderness immediately, and the Forest Service requires two permits between June 15 and October 15: a free self-issue wilderness permit at the trailhead and a recreation pass to park.
Groundwater-fed lace (Burney Falls, California). Proxy Falls wears the same look on its mossy wall, and holds it deep into the dry season. “Burney Falls (6489840799)” by Prayitno / Thank you for (9 millions +) views from Los Angeles, USA, CC BY 2.0
Common questions
Proxy Falls flow season FAQ
Proxy Creek is widely described as spring-fed off the young lava aquifers of the McKenzie country, which would explain why the falls photographs full even in autumn; the Forest Service page does not say so, so treat that spring-fed label as ours, not theirs. What the agency does say is decisive for planning: the access road, Highway 242, closes in winter, so the practical season is roughly early summer to the first snow.
Proxy Creek has no USGS gauge near the falls, so the seasonal pattern above is the flow guide for Proxy Falls, and Willamette National Forest (US Forest Service) is the source for current conditions on the ground.
The flow holds up unusually well into fall for a Cascades falls, consistent with a groundwater source. The real cutoff is the road: when Highway 242 closes for winter, Proxy is out of reach regardless of how much water is coming over.
Willamette National Forest (US Forest Service). The loop trail enters the Three Sisters Wilderness immediately, and the Forest Service requires two permits between June 15 and October 15: a free self-issue wilderness permit at the trailhead and a recreation pass to park. Trail status, closures and safety rules are theirs, and their page is linked on this one; nothing here overrides what they publish.
Yosemite Falls in May, running on snowmelt that will be gone by late summer. The National Park Service tells visitors the falls can be dry by August, which is why every falls page here starts from its watershed. “Tourists below Yosemite Falls (39832011431)” by Mike McBey, CC BY 2.0
A 224 foot single plunge over lichen-splashed columnar basalt in the western Columbia Gorge, minutes from the historic highway and at its best in the wet half of the year.
The 177 foot curtain you can walk behind, headliner of Silver Falls State Park's Trail of Ten Falls and the centerpiece of Oregon's largest state park.
A two-tier plunge over a wall of columnar basalt on the North Umpqua, with flow smoothed year round by the hydroelectric diversion whose wooden pipe lines the access road.
Flow windows are typical-year climatology drawn from the driver and the agency language quoted above, not forecasts. Live readings and per-date percentiles are U.S. Geological Survey data, public domain; the above-or-below-typical line is our comparison and is labelled as such. Access, trail and safety information belongs to Willamette National Forest (US Forest Service). National picture: waterfall season across the US → Hero image: “Burney Falls (6489840799)” by Prayitno / Thank you for (9 millions +) views from Los Angeles, USA, CC BY 2.0
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