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The North Fork of Tumalo Creek behaves as if it is deliberately trying to outdoor the neighboring Middle Fork, presenting itself with four major waterfalls. The uppermost of those is a lively plunging fall dropping 38 feet into the uppermost reaches of a significant canyon which the creek has carved as it flows downstream from Happy Valley to meet the Middle Fork. While the Tumalo Creek trail approaches near the canyon, unlike the nearby falls on the Middle Fork this waterfall is neither visible nor very audible from the trail and scrambling down into the canyon is not exactly a safe undertaking.
- Upper North Fork Tumalo Falls is the Unofficial name of this waterfall.
The Tumalo Falls area is located about 10 miles west of Bend beneath Broken Top. From Highway 97 in Bend, turn west on Franklin Street. As Franklin runs through town, it parallels a nice park along the Deschutes River. Just after this park - about a mile from 97 - turn right and cross the river on Galveston Street. After passing Century Drive, Galveston turns into Skyliners Road. Follow Skyliners Road for 10 ½ miles, and turn left on FR 4601, signed for Tumalo Falls, just after crossing Tumalo Creek. This gravel route ends in another 2 ½ miles at the Tumalo Falls Trailhead. Following the trail to the top of Tumalo Falls, continue upstream for 3.4 miles to the junction with the Spring Creek Trail just below Happy Valley. From here a GPS is best for locating the falls, found by walking straight down the hill towards the North Fork and then following it downstream until the falls can be heard. The south side of the canyon is quite steep and crumbly but can be safely scrambled down about 100 feet downstream from the falls (do not attempt this if you are at all uncomfortable with exposure and steep slopes).
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