Yakso Falls is a 60-foot veiling horsetail waterfall on Little River in the Umpqua National Forest, Douglas County, Oregon. The river fans out over a knobbed cliff into a pool at the end of a short trail that starts across the road from Lake in the Woods campground, deep in the Little River valley east of Glide.
The falls
Little River drops about 60 feet in a single leap; the World Waterfall Database re-surveyed and measured the falls in person in 2021. The cliff is sculpted into several knobs that bulge outward, so the water splits and veils across the face in a spreading fan about 25 feet wide. A large basalt outcrop near the base splits the fan. The view changes noticeably from one side of the pool to the other.
Getting there
From Glide on Highway 138, Little River Road (County Road 17, becoming Forest Road 27) runs about 25.8 miles to Lake in the Woods campground, the last 7 miles on gravel. Park at the campground entrance; trail #1519 starts directly across Road 27. The hike is 1.5 miles round trip with 310 feet of gain and is rated easy and family-friendly. The trail drops toward the river on the way in, so the climb comes on the return, which is rated more difficult. The campground itself is unimproved, with picnic tables and restrooms but no water.
When to go
Spring through fall is the recommended season, and the trail is open year-round. Snowmelt in spring brings the heaviest flow. In lower water later in the year the falls thin into separate strands, the hair-like look behind the name.
On site
The trail winds through tall evergreens, vine maple and rhododendron, in old-growth forest that has been selectively logged, and ends at the base of the falls beside the pool. Rules for dogs and swimming aren't documented.
History and name
Yakso is a Chinook Jargon word for hair, a reference to the way the falls resemble long hair, especially at lower flow.
Nearby
Hemlock Falls is about 0.9 mile away, and its trail starts near campsite 1 in the same campground. Middle Hemlock Falls (1.1 miles) and Clover Falls (1.3 miles) lie on the same Hemlock Creek drainage, and Cedar Creek Falls is about 2.9 miles away.
Distances are straight-line.