Toketee Falls is one of the most well known waterfalls in Oregon, renowned for the well defined columnar jointing along the cliff which forms the waterfall. The falls drop in two steps from a narrow slot canyon carved into the basalt bedrock, falling a total of 89 feet into a large cerulean-hued pool. The upper fall drops 19 feet into a small grotto framed on all sides with columnar formations, and from the lip of the pool the river then leaps a sheer 70 feet into the larger pool at the bottom of the canyon.
Toketee is a Chinook word meaning Graceful. The irony here is that Toketee Falls could only be considered graceful in any sense after the construction of the dam upstream resulted in the vast majority of the river being diverted away from the falls, while the falls has been recognized by name dating back to at least 1916 - a full 35 years before the dam was built.
The trail to the viewing point can get quite busy, and there is limited space on the final platform from which to view the falls. Patience can be required. While there is no official trail to the bottom of the 100' canyon, some people scramble down to the base of the falls.
