Wahkeena Falls is the name of a 242 foot (73 m) waterfall in the Columbia River Gorge in the state of Oregon. Spellings of this word are dubious, because the word is merely an English transliteration of a Pacific Northwest Native American (reportedly Yakama) phrase meaning "most beautiful".
The waterfall is unlike Multnomah Falls, in that the water does not just 'plunge' into the ground. Wahkeena Falls, rather, has a more subtle cascading flow. These falls have been featured in numerous travel guides and in photography books.
Wahkeena Falls is along the Historic Columbia River Highway, about 13 miles (21 km) east of Troutdale, Oregon. A short hike uphill from the parking lot at the base leads to the stone bridge that crosses the main part of the falls. That trail continues on east to Multnomah Falls, the next falls down the road.
This waterfall is visible directly from the Historic Columbia River Highway. Visitors often slow down to view this cascading waterfall directly from their car.
Famous quotes containing the word falls:
“Already nature is serving all those uses which science slowly derives on a much higher and grander scale to him that will be served by her. When the sunshine falls on the path of the poet, he enjoys all those pure benefits and pleasures which the arts slowly and partially realize from age to age. The winds which fan his cheek waft him the sum of that profit and happiness which their lagging inventions supply.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)