Goblin Falls

RATING - 22.4

VR - 1.8 (Sm) HR - 8.0 SR - 8/20

TYPE OF APPROACH - Roadside

DIFFICULTY - Very Easy

LOCATION - Cascade River Road

TYPE - Cascades

HEIGHT - 465'

WIDTH - 15'

DIRECTIONS - Take HWY 20 east to the Cascade River Road. Follow the road for around 7.25 miles. Park at a large pullout on the right and walk around until you find a view. You can scramble up the creek to get to the bottom of the main drop.

Our first time up the Cascade River Road, Goblin Falls was in full force. Water poured down the face of the rock in several different streams before dropping under the road. Our next time up (less than a month later), there was no water near the road and only a trickle coming down up above. A fairly easy climb up the creek is necessary to view this falls, but when it is running at high volume it is well worth it. Due to the angle of the rocks, it is very difficult to see the entire falls at any one time. Instead you get a little 100' tall section like the photo on the left. In the winter of 2008/2009, a big avalanche crashed down and covered the road at the bottom of the falls. The avalanche took out a lot of the trees below the falls so they can now be viewed much better from the road. I recently measured the falls at 465' tall, but I suspect that they actually continue above what can be seen. I will climb up the falls next time I'm in the area to get a better view and find out for sure what goes on above.