Twister Falls is a 135-foot tiered horsetail waterfall on Eagle Creek in the Columbia River Gorge, Hood River County, Oregon. It sits just upstream of Tunnel Falls near the far end of the popular Eagle Creek Trail, and its upper tier, where two jets of water cross each other, gave it its name.
The falls
The descent drops in three tiers: a sliding cascade of 7 to 8 feet over small benches, a 39-foot plunge where the creek splits into channels that cross in a bow-tie shape, and a final 89-foot horsetail into a basin. Older surveys cited 148 feet, while other sources record 140 feet. Spring-fed Eagle Creek runs all year, with flows averaging about 100 cubic feet per second for nine months and about 35 for the other three.
Getting there
The Eagle Creek Trailhead is reached from I-84 at exit 41, eastbound only; westbound drivers take exit 40 and loop back east. Parking costs $5 a day or a Northwest Forest Pass or America the Beautiful pass, with a QR-code kiosk for paying online through Recreation.gov. The trail passes Tunnel Falls at 5.7 miles, and Twister Falls sits about 6.25 miles from the trailhead, making it a long day hike of roughly 12.5 miles round trip. Winter storms damaged the trail in early 2026, leading to a closure in February; hikers visiting on May 6, 2026, documented good trail conditions.
When to go
Flow remains steady year-round. The trail gets crowded.
On site
The trail is carved into the cliff beside the falls, which makes the whole drop hard to see from any one spot. Near the top of the falls there are no railings between the path and the gorge; keep well back from the edge. Reaching the base means a scramble on loose rock. Along the route, steep drop-offs are lined with cable handholds on exposed sections. Dogs must be leashed, and cliff diving and drones are prohibited along Eagle Creek.
History and name
The name is informal: the USGS has never named the falls. Other names in use, Crossover, Crisscross, Bowtie and Eagle Creek Falls, also describe the crossing streams of the upper tier.
Nearby
Tunnel Falls on the East Fork and Grand Union Falls are both about 0.2 mile away. Sevenmile Falls is about 0.3 mile away and Upper Tunnel Falls about 0.5 mile. The town of Cascade Locks is about 6.3 miles north.
Distances are straight-line.