McDowell Creek Falls: Beware of tricksy hobbits and elfin magic, for surely such creatures roam this land. Six miles off Oregon Highway 20 between Sweet Home and Lebanon, you’ll find McDowell Creek Falls. You’ll know you’re well on you way when you leave the highway behind to travel though country roads of green meadows, sheep farms and about a million and a half wild daffodils.
But you ain’t seen nothing yet. The trail system at McDowell Creek Falls will wind you into another world, dripping with moss-covered trees, dense ferns and a series of thundering waterfalls mixed with tranquil pools of crystal clear water.
Expect to climb up and down, hither and yon, and even scale a stone staircase built into the mountainside to the top of the 119-foot Royal Terrace Falls.
Besides the wonderfully narrow and vivid trail, you’ll see these other highlights:
• Majestic Falls, tumbling 39 feet through the forest
• The splashy and dramatic “tiered” McDowell Falls
• The “punchbowl” Crystal Falls, which creates the languid Crystal Pool.
Watch out for the keen play of shadow and light in this forest, however, for there may be an elf, or a tricksy little hobbit, hiding in the wild, unruly woods.
Travel Information: Albany Visitors Center
