Tamolitch Falls is a 49-foot plunge on the McKenzie River in the Willamette National Forest, Linn County, Oregon. Most of the year its lip is dry, and the river instead wells up from the lava into the Tamolitch Pool, better known as the Blue Pool, whose deep blue water draws crowds of hikers.
The falls
The World Waterfall Database, which surveyed the site in person, measures a single 49-foot drop about 35 feet wide. Upstream, the McKenzie sinks into porous lava from Belknap Crater and travels underground, re-emerging at the base of the falls. Since the 1960s water has also been diverted above the falls for hydroelectric power, so the falls run only when the river overwhelms the Smith-Carmen diversion, which takes 900 cubic feet per second or more for three days in a row, a rare event. The pool itself stays full, about 30 feet deep though it looks shallower.
Getting there
The traditional route follows the McKenzie River Trail upstream from the Blue Pool trailhead on gravel Forest Service Road 655 near Trail Bridge Reservoir, off Highway 126. The hike is 3.6 miles round trip with 285 feet of gain, rated moderate, mostly flat but with a rough stretch of lava rock. The small lot fills before 9 a.m. on summer weekends. The trailhead and the first 1.5 miles burned in a 2024 fire but reopened.
A new trailhead is being built with a large parking area on the southeast side of the river, reached 0.2 mile northeast of the upper end of Trailbridge Reservoir on Highway 126 by a 0.1-mile access road. The new 2.1-mile trail ends at a viewing platform, and by fall 2026 the old route is to close for good, leaving Road 655 to serve only the bike bypass.
When to go
The Blue Pool looks much the same all year; the falls themselves flow only in rare high water. September and October are the recommended months for lighter crowds; summer weekends are the busiest.
On site
The water stays around 37 degrees Fahrenheit, cold enough to cause immediate shock, and the pool is ringed by unfenced cliffs. In late June 2026 a 21-year-old man died after jumping into the pool, and the Linn County Sheriff's Office warned that it has taken lives before. Cell reception is minimal or absent, and a rescue can take hours. A swimming closure is planned; stay on the rim. Dogs are allowed on leash, and the lava is hard on paws.
History and name
Tamolitch comes from a Chinook word for "bucket," after the shape of the pool. The falls were once called Lower Falls, below Sahalie (Upper) and Koosah (Middle) Falls.
Nearby
Koosah Falls is about 2.5 miles upstream, and Sahalie Falls about 2.9 miles; the two share the Waterfalls Loop Trail. Carpenter Creek Falls is about 4.3 miles away.
Distances are straight-line.