Umpqua National Forest

The Umpqua National Forest has many wonderful and beautiful areas to explore. Umpqua is pronounced Ump- as in umpire, and kwah- as in squaw: Ump-quaw. We traveled highway 138 along the North Umpqua river several times and saw several beautiful waterfalls.

This is the North Umpqua River just East of Roseburg on Highway 138.

Deadline Falls

Driving along the North Umpqua is beautiful in and of itself!

The next fall we visited was Fall Creek Falls and we got to take a hike to it. What a beautiful walk!

Fall Creek Falls

Shortly after we started the trail we had to squeeze through these narrow passages between volcanic rock. It was easy for me, and mom through it was "cool"!

It was a pretty walk through the forest along the creek to the falls!

Mom let me go wading several times. I love to go wading! Mom knows it and doesn't mind even though I get all wet and muddy. She does insist on wiping my feet off before she lets me back in the Runner though (that's the part of wading I don't like!).

Our hike back was pretty too,
until . . .

. . . mom tried to get a picture ofhis cascade saying "oooo Cheeka, isn't this a pretty little waterfall!"

Mom fell in and, because I was on a leash, she took me right along with her; camera clicking all the way!

Thanks mom!
I could've gone all week without that!

How she kept her camera dry I'll never know!

At any rate, we continued our drive on up the North Umpqua River.

Toketee Falls

Our next stop was at Toketee Falls. Toketee (Toe-kuh-tea) is from a Chinook Indian word that means "pretty" or "graceful". Toketee Falls is certainly both!

The half mile hike to the falls begins at a small bridge and follows a trail along the North Umpqua River as it winds its way through lush, old-growth forest.

Toketee Falls is a two-tiered water fall that plunges a total of 120 feet.
The top tier is 40 feet and the lower tier is 80 feet.

I enjoyed the hike very much and found several interesting things to explore along the way. I found several "caves" where I thought we could spend a cozy night, but mom nixed the idea saying that we had a perfectly comfortable bed at grandma and grandpa's house. She did have a point!

An interesting thing that can be seen at the Toketee Falls Trailhead parking lot is this giant stave pipe made of redwood. It transports water from nearby Toketee Lake to an underground tunnel and a steel pipe that flows into the Toketee Generator Plant to produce hydro-electric power. If you look closely, you can see water sprouting from several leaks in the pipe. Mom says it has been doing this for the past 20 years so don't worry about it bursting!

Toketee Lake

Our next stop was at a pretty little waterfall on the Clearwater River. Although only 15 feet high, Whitehorse Falls is truly a little gem!

We stopped and had a picnic lunch at Clearwater Falls. This 30 foot cascade is also on the Clearwater River.

That was all the waterfalls we saw. However, we did go toDiamond Lake.

Diamond Lake

Infact, it was grandma and grandpa's 65th wedding anniversary and the family kicked off a whole weekend of celebration there. It started with a family picnic, and then mom, her two brothers, and her niece rented a patio boat and everyone went for a cruise on the lake!