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In the early 1970s Salem resident and outdoor enthusiast Maynard Drawson explored Henline Creek and discovered nearly a dozen distinct and previously unknown waterfalls along Henline Creek. Recent efforts by several waterfall hunters from the Portland area have brought these waterfalls to attention, making Henline Creek one of the best waterfall hunting destinations in the Oregon Cascades. Unfortunately most of the falls are only accessible by difficult off-trail scrambling. On the converse, the biggest and best of the falls along the creek - Henline Falls - is quite easily accessible.
Henline Falls is a broad curtain type fall, dropping 126 feet over the side of a narrow alcove. During periods of lower water levels Henline Creek will split into two or three more distinct channels of water and spray into the cove in multiple distinct sheets of droplets. This disconnect between the powerful falls seen during the wet season and the lacy, delicate falls encountered in the dry season will determine whether the entire falls can be viewed by visitors - at high water so much spray blasts out from the falls that attempting to cross the creek to where all-encompassing views are possible is treacherous (and photography is pretty much impossible).
- Henline Falls is the Official name of this waterfall.
- Known Alternate Names: Silver King Falls
Henline Falls was named after the creek, which was in turn named for a settler of the area who had come in search of the rich prospecting in the area. Immediately to the right of the base of the falls is the Silver King Mine. Remnants of a tramway leading from the mine are visible as the trail near the falls. The adit itself is dry, so exploration is possible, but do not enter the mine alone, or without flashlights, and never walk through flooded areas of a mine (drowning in a flooded vertical shaft is a very real possibility). Henline Falls was known as Silver King Falls at one point due to the mine's prominence.
From the junction of Interstate 5 and Highway 22 in Salem, take Highway 22 east for 27 miles, then turn left onto North Fork Road - signed for both Elkhorn Valley and the Little North Santiam Recreation Area. Follow North Fork Road for 17 miles and then bear left on FSR# 2209, signed for Jawbone Flats and the Opal Creek Trail. About 1/5 of a mile up Road 2209 find the parking area for the Henline Falls / Ogle Mountain trailhead on the left. The trail leads along an old road for half of a mile, then branches left where the old road continues right, and continues to the base of the falls in another half mile.
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