Upper Elk Creek Falls is a 120-foot waterfall on Elk Creek in Coos County, Oregon, in the Coast Range region. It lies about 17.7 miles east of Bunker Hill and roughly 59.5 miles southwest of Eugene as the crow flies.
At 120 feet it stands in the tallest quarter of Oregon’s 425 waterfalls with a recorded height, ranking 86th; the typical Oregon waterfall is about 54 feet. By form it is a horsetail, where the water keeps some contact with the bedrock as it falls.
The Coast Range is a belt of steep, deeply dissected hills along the Pacific, wrapped in dense temperate rainforest of Douglas fir, western hemlock, Sitka spruce and red alder. Heavy winter rain feeds short, fast creeks lined with ferns, salmonberry and moss that drop steeply toward the ocean or the Columbia. Elk Creek carries 5 recorded waterfalls; the biggest of them reaches 191 feet.
Coos County holds 82 recorded waterfalls, and several are close by. Elk Creek Falls, a 150-foot horsetail waterfall, is under a mile away. Waterfall 19 mi E of Bunker Hill, is about 1.4 miles away. Waterfall 18.5 mi E of Bunker Hill, is about 1.8 miles away.
Upper Elk Creek Falls is located at 43.3950° N, 123.8568° W. The listing is based on the World Waterfall Database, one of the sources compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey in its inventory of waterfalls and rapids of the conterminous United States. The creek name is confirmed against the federal Geographic Names Information System. The exact position has not yet been verified on aerial imagery, so treat the map pin as approximate. Details on trails, parking and access have not been documented for this waterfall yet.