Toketee Falls, Umpqua National Forest, Oregon

Ancient flows of columnar basalt create a dramatic setting for Toketee Falls along the upper Umpqua River in Oregon. The river enters a narrow gorge above the falls and plummets over a series of small drops before making this final 85-foot plunge into a huge blue pool at its base. The indigenous Chinook people in this region used the word Toketee, meaning “graceful”, when referring to this waterfall. Today, a hydro-electric generating system diverts the majority of the Umpqua River’s flow into a 12-foot diameter pipe just upstream from this waterfall. The most accepted definition for the word “Umpqua” is “thunder water”; a name which certainly would have applied to this waterfall in the days prior to the water diversion.