I’ve simply labeled this as a “falls” on the panorama, as it’s one of dozens (perhaps hundreds) of seasonal falls of this scale that appear throughout the Gorge. Moving east along the Gorge face, another very small, unnamed falls forms a seasonal cascade just beyond Foxglove Creek. The old Gorge touring map suggests that Foxglove Falls might be the illusive “Dalton Falls”, but it’s clearly too small and out of view to have been given this name. Waterfall explorers have since scrambled down to Foxglove Falls and found a modest 50-foot cascade among a string of smaller drops as Foxglove Creek bounds down the very steep ravine below Angels Rest. The name comes from a trail by the same name, and crossing this stream just upstream from the falls. “Foxglove Falls” is a working name I attached to this falls several years ago after first hearing it from Angels Rest, then getting a few glimpses of falling water through the trees. The first is Foxglove Falls, located near Angels Rest (below). Given the general location of these waterfalls, here’s a closer look at each one, as captured in the State of Oregon surveys, starting from the west. So, I’ve added them to this map, as well, for clarity: Some are on seasonal streams while some some flow year-round, though even the perennial streams are not mapped in most cases. This topographic map shows the same “Heaven and Hell” section of the Gorge face with the location of each of these waterfalls identified. For the sake of describing them, I’ve attached informal names to the most notable cascades (which I will explain, for better or worse). But beginning with Dalton Falls on the east, the composite photo reveals a total of seven unnamed waterfalls that can now be clearly seen in aerial images. Mist Falls is just beyond the left edge of the panorama and Coopey Falls just beyond the right side of this view. The following panorama is stitched together from several of these aerial photos and reveals a labyrinth of deep canyons and cliffs that make up the “Heaven and Hell” Gorge face, between Devils Rest and Angels Rest: With much of the once-dense forest canopy burned away, waterfall lovers can finally see just how many waterfalls have been hiding here. The Eagle Creek Fire and the State of Oregon’s aerial surveys that followed have pulled back the curtain on this area. This is has been the main argument against this waterfall being the “real” Dalton Falls in the many debates that have unfolded over the years. In most years, Dalton Falls is seasonal, going dry in late summer. Like Mist Falls, Dalton Falls is a two-tiered waterfall with a total height of 350 feet - not as tall as nearby Mist Falls at 520 feet, but quite tall compared to other waterfalls in the Gorge. The photo below is from state aerial surveys taken after the Eagle Creek Fire in 2018, and shows both the familiar Mist Falls and nearby “Dalton Falls”, just to the west. This is where the confusion begins, as the stream in this canyon does have several small cascades, but nothing that could have been easily seen from below, along the old Columbia River Highway, which seems to argue against this falls being the real “Dalton Falls” Meanwhile, one of the lesser-known waterfalls in what I am calling the “Heaven and Hell” section of the Gorge is quite prominent, and to many waterfall admirers is the rightful “Dalton Falls”. But tucked between Coopey Falls and Mist Falls on this old map is “Dalton Falls”, shown to be flowing from a prominent canyon on the east flank of Angels Rest (then “Fort Rock”). Multnomah, Mist Falls and Coopey Falls are also shown, and still carry their original names (Mist Falls is one of the few landmarks in the Gorge that still carries a name given by the Lewis and Clark expedition). But nobody seems to agree which waterfall is the real “Dalton”.Ī closer look at a 1916 touring map (below) published when the original scenic highway opened in the Gorge shows this area in detail, including a few name changes: “Fort Rock” is now Angels Rest and the domed butte at the top center-right edge is Devils Rest, which forms the headwaters of well-known Wahkeena Falls - then known as “Gordon Falls”. At least one of them, Dalton Falls, is named. Hidden in plain sight near the west entrance to the Columbia River Gorge are a string of waterfalls that flow from the slopes of Devils Rest and Angels Rest, yet are virtually unknown.
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