Oregon State Archives: A 1940 Journey Across Oregon

LATOURELLE FALLS, 164.9 m. [West of Hwy. 730 Junction]. take a sheer drop of 224 feet into a pool at the base of an overhanging cliff. LATOURELLE BRIDGE was so placed as to give the best view of the falling waters.

NW Waterfall Survey: Latourell Falls

Height: 224 feet

Tallest Drop: 224 feet

Num. Drops: 1

Primary Form: Plunge

The falls plunge 224 feet over a massive wall of columnar basalt - some of the best formations in the Pacific Northwest - before cascading hastily towards the Columbia River. I had for the longest time questioned its height - commonly said to be 249 feet - because to my eye, it looked substantially shorter. Early measurements placed the height at 224 feet, and I found this much more believable. Well I trained my rangefinder on the falls in 2009 and lo and behold, I measured it to almost exactly 224 feet.

The falls were named for Joseph Latourell, a well known settler of the area. It isn't known exactly when the falls were officially named. In 1887 Joseph Latourell was named postmaster of the Rooster Rock Post Office, one of the first in the area, and the office was subsequently renamed Latourell Falls, so I suspect the falls had to have been named prior to 1887. The falls were originally owned by Guy W. Talbot, who donated the land and falls to the Oregon State Parks system in 1929 (the park was subsequently named for Talbot).

Robert W. Hadlow, Columbia River Highway Historic District, National Historic Landmark Nomination

CS20. Structure: Masonry Retaining Walls, Trails, and Falls

Overlook

Location: HMP 26.1

Date: 1914

Designer: S. C. Lancaster

Owner: Oregon Department of Transportation and Oregon Parks and Recreation Department

Masonry retaining walls similar to those seen along the CRH mark the borders of trails leading to Latourell Falls from the historic highway.

A parking lot south of the CRH, at the eastern end of the Latourell Creek Bridge is the starting point of a trail that meanders through the undergrowth to Latourell Creek, below the falls.

Masonry walls that date from the highway’s original construction line portions of the trail. After crossing the stream on a small wooden span, visitors reach an overlook near the pool at the base of the falls. The incessant pounding action of the falling water hitting the plunge pool, and the uplifting breezes and spray that its power generates, mesmerizes visitors and draws them in closer, if only temporarily, to a oneness with nature’s mighty wonders.

The Guy W. Talbot State Park/Latourell Falls Developed Area is characterized by a trail system that, like the CRH, is of cliff-face construction. Masonry retaining walls and guard walls further connect it to the highway’s design and sensitivity to the natural landscape. Latourell Falls today is still visible from the CRH, as it was at the time of the highway’s construction. It entices visitors to further explore the setting’s inviting solitude.

"The Falls of Latourell can be seen from the bridge, pouring their shining waters over the vertical wall of a basalt cliff, where the rock is formed into pentagonal shapes which hang down like icicles. The Giant's Causeway of the Irish Coast is well known, but it offers no better example of rock crystallization."

Links

CLICK HERE to continue exploring the highway