Willamette Falls is a 42-foot horseshoe-shaped block waterfall on the Willamette River between Oregon City and West Linn in Clackamas County, Oregon. The World Waterfall Database calls it the largest waterfall by volume in the Northwest, and the National Park Service ranks it second in the United States by volume.
The falls
The river pours over a curved basalt shelf about 1,500 feet wide, 26 river miles above its confluence with the Columbia. The falls were formed by the Ice Age Floods. The average flow is about 32,770 cubic feet per second from November to May and 3,745 in the low season; floods often top 100,000. A fish ladder takes about 1,000 cfs and the hydroelectric station about 5,500, and the hydroelectric plant, paper mill and locks around it have stripped the falls of most of their natural look.
Getting there
The falls are seen from the road. The Willamette Falls Scenic Viewpoint at 120 McLoughlin Boulevard (OR 99E) in Oregon City has parking and gives the closer view; a second viewpoint at milepost 7.5 on I-205 looks down from higher up with a wider angle. The riverbank at the falls has had no public access for generations. The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde bought the former Blue Heron Paper Mill site in Oregon City in 2019; construction there began in May 2026, and the riverwalk, meant to bring the public back to the falls, is still being designed, with no opening date.
When to go
Flow is highest from November through May. In summer, diversions for power and the fish ladder leave noticeably less water going over the crest.
On site
The current above the falls is dangerous. In April 2025 a 20-year-old kayaker launched near Canemah at night and was swept over; two days later only his kayak had been found. Below the falls the water is 15 to 150 feet deep, with strong, unpredictable undercurrents.
History and name
The falls were a major Native fishing site, and five tribes, the Yakama, Grand Ronde, Siletz, Umatilla and Warm Springs, still take ceremonial salmon and harvest lamprey here each summer. The Willamette Falls Locks opened in 1873 and closed in 2011. In 1889 a 14-mile line carried power from the falls to Portland, the first long-distance electrical transmission in the country. Grand Ronde named its mill site tumwata village in 2022, from the Chinook Jargon word for waterfall.
Nearby
Oswego Cascades is about 4.7 miles away, Cedar Mill Falls about 14.9 miles and The Falls on Eagle Creek about 15.6 miles. Canemah Bluff Nature Park in Oregon City and Camassia Nature Preserve in West Linn offer walks through the flood-scoured scablands.
Distances are straight-line.