Overview

• Location: Off the McKenzie Pass Highway (OR-242), Three Sisters Wilderness edge, Willamette National Forest, Lane County
• Waterfall Type: Cascade
• Height: About 125–129 feet
• Elevation: About 3,000 feet
• Trail Distance: On the same 1.6-mile loop as Proxy Falls; Upper Proxy is about 1.1 miles in, going counterclockwise, then a short side path to the pool
• Difficulty: Easy to the pool; user-made scramble paths beyond it are slippery
• Best Time to Visit: Late June through early October, when OR-242 is open
• Fee: $5 per vehicle or a Northwest Forest Pass, plus a free self-issue wilderness day-use permit in summer
• Also see: Proxy Falls, the 226-foot falls on the same loop

History & Background

Upper Proxy Falls is the quieter half of one of Oregon’s best short waterfall hikes. It shares a 1.6-mile loop trail with Proxy Falls, and most visitors come for its taller neighbor. Adam Sawyer puts it well: the upper falls “would be a spectacle anywhere else. Unfortunately for Upper Proxy Falls, her taller and slightly more fetching sister lives only a couple of blocks away.”

What Upper Proxy Falls has that its sister doesn’t is a mystery. The falls tumble about 125 feet down a mossy canyon wall into a small, clear pool, and then the water simply disappears. There’s no stream flowing out of the pool. That vanishing act, and the cool, shady pocket around the base, make it worth the short side trip.

Both falls sit along the McKenzie Pass–Santiam Pass Scenic Byway (OR-242), a narrow, winding mountain road that’s only open from roughly mid-June to November. The trail crosses into the Three Sisters Wilderness, so a free day-use permit is required in summer, even for this short walk.

Geology: The Pool With No Outlet

Upper Proxy Falls drops off the wall of a hanging valley. During the last ice age, a large glacier carved the main canyon deeper than its side valleys. When the ice melted, the side streams were left high on the canyon wall, where they now pour off as long, narrow ribbon falls. Gregory Plumb describes the water here as cascading “from springs issuing from a high canyon wall.”

Later, lava from cinder cones near North Sister flowed down the valley floor. David L. Anderson’s guide dates the flow along the trail at about 4,500 years old. That young lava is full of gaps and cracks, and it’s the reason the pool at the base of Upper Proxy Falls has no visible outlet. The water sinks through the porous rock beneath the pool and travels underground, re-emerging as springs several miles down the canyon. According to Anderson, those springs feed Lost Creek and White Branch Creek.

Directions & Access

• Nearest City: McKenzie Bridge, about 13 miles west. Sisters is about 27 miles east over McKenzie Pass.

From Eugene: Take OR-126 east past McKenzie Bridge to the OR-242 junction. Turn right on OR-242 and drive about 9 miles to the signed Proxy Falls Trailhead.

From Sisters: Head west on OR-242 over McKenzie Pass for about 27.4 miles to the trailhead on the left.

Seasonal road closure: OR-242 is gated from November to mid-June, before the trailhead. The earliest opening is usually the third Monday in June. We found the gate still closed when we tried in June 2026. Check ODOT’s McKenzie Highway page or TripCheck first. No vehicles over 35 feet.

Parking, Fees and Permits

• Parking: Shared with Proxy Falls: maintained roadside pullouts with limited spaces rather than a lot. They were busy but not full in the early afternoon of August 8, 2026.
• Fee: $5 per vehicle at the self-serve card machine, or a Northwest Forest Pass or Interagency Pass.
• Wilderness permit: Free self-issue day-use permit at the trailhead, June 15 to October 15.
• Facilities: Vault toilets and picnic tables. No drinking water.
• Dogs: On a leash of 6 feet or less.

The Loop Trail to Both Falls

Both Proxy waterfalls are on one loop, signed counterclockwise from the westernmost trailhead. The Forest Service asks hikers to follow the signed direction to reduce congestion. Going this way, you cross the open lava flow first, then drop into shady forest.

At about 0.7 miles, a side trail leads to Proxy Falls, the bigger and more photographed of the two, with a steep scramble to its base. About 0.4 miles farther along the main trail, a short side path follows a creek bed up to Upper Proxy Falls. From there, the loop finishes with a final stretch back across the lava to the trailhead.

Our Visit

We hiked the loop on August 8, 2026. From below, Upper Proxy Falls is much less impressive than Proxy Falls, although it can look nearly as tall. A small pool sits at the base, and the air in this pocket is noticeably colder, a great place to cool off on a hot day. Several user-made scramble paths lead closer to the falls for a better view. They aren’t official trails and aren’t maintained, and the wet rock is slippery, so be careful if you try them.

Best Time to Visit

• Spring: The road doesn’t open until mid-June, so the earliest visits come in late June, when snowmelt keeps the flow strong.
• Summer: Prime season, and the cool air at the pool is at its most welcome. The trail is busy on weekends.
• Fall: Vine maples on the lava flow turn red and orange in late September and early October. Go before the highway closes in November.
• Winter: Not reachable by car.

Nearby Attractions

• Proxy Falls: the 226-foot falls on the same loop, about 0.4 miles away.
• White Branch Falls: a wide veil west on OR-242, on White Branch Creek, one of the creeks Anderson says is fed by the water that vanishes beneath Upper Proxy’s pool.
• Sahalie Falls, Koosah Falls and Tamolitch Falls (Blue Pool): McKenzie River highlights off OR-126.
• Belknap Hot Springs: hot spring pools near the OR-126/OR-242 junction.
• Dee Wright Observatory: a lava-rock lookout at the top of McKenzie Pass.

References

• Links:
  • USFS – Proxy Falls Trailhead
  • USFS – Proxy Falls Trail #3532
  • ODOT – McKenzie Highway (OR-242) seasonal closure
  • TripCheck – current road conditions
  • AllTrails – Proxy Falls
• Books:
  • Hiking Waterfalls Oregon by Adam Sawyer: hike #36. Upper Proxy Falls 129 ft; side trail at mile 1.1 of the 1.6-mile loop (N44 09.798′ / W121 55.440′).
  • Waterfall Lover’s Guide: Pacific Northwest by Gregory Alan Plumb: water cascades 100 to 125 feet from springs on a high canyon wall.
  • Waterfalls of the Pacific Northwest by David L. Anderson: the 125-foot falls ends in a collection pool with no visible outlet, draining underground to springs that feed Lost Creek and White Branch Creek.