“Lower Kentucky Falls”

Location: Oregon Coast Range (2020)

Lower Kentucky Falls plummets 90 feet before flowing through moss drenched rocks.

Having trusted Google Maps to reach this destination was an adventure in and of itself. A wrong turn three miles before the trailhead took me down a single-lane road surrounded by overhanging vegetation. I thought I was Indiana Jones driving a jeep through the jungles of Madagascar.

Located in the heart of the Oregon Coast Range about halfway between Florence and Eugene, Oregon, Lower Kentucky Falls and its brother, Upper Kentucky Falls, was a destination well worth the bushwhacking wrong turn.

The path was narrow; it hugged the edge of a ravine where vine maples had turned yellow – ready for the next cold snap to shed their colorful leaves. Old growth Douglas Firs, with their furrowed bark, appeared like statue. The protected ravine, a sanctuary within a larger area cross-crossed with logging roads.

With the sound of the falls always within earshot it was easy to forget the sounds of civilization.  It was morning, and the air was crisp, like it always seems to be in autumn. The sweet scent of pitch and the musky perfume of duff combined to make each breathe deep and every exhale a slow release.