Overview

• Location: Upper Tualatin River above Cherry Grove, Washington County, northern Oregon Coast Range foothills
• Waterfall Type: Block
• Height: About 15–20 feet (5–6 m); much wider than it is tall
• Trail Distance: About 6.6 miles round trip on a gated gravel road (Oregon Hikers figure)
• Difficulty: Medium. The grade is gentle, but the walk is long.
• Best Time to Visit: Spring, for strong flow and roadside wildflowers

History & Background

Lee Falls is the waterfall at the top of the Tualatin River’s journey out of the Coast Range. Above Cherry Grove the river runs through a narrow, forested canyon before spilling into the farmland of Patton Valley, and Lee Falls is the biggest drop along that stretch. The falls are named for James A. Lee, a 19th-century sawmill owner.

Timber and water power shaped this valley. In 1911, Swedish immigrant August Lovegren founded Cherry Grove downstream, built a sawmill, and started a small private electric grid powered by the mill’s boiler. He named the town after Cherry Grove, Minnesota, his cousin’s hometown, because “Appleton” was already taken in Oregon. In September 1913 he finished a dam on the Tualatin to hold logs, but a flood in January 1914 destroyed both the dam and the boiler. Cherry Grove went without electricity until Portland General Electric arrived in 1935.

Today the road to the falls is owned by the City of Hillsboro’s water utility and passes through private timberland. It is closed to vehicles but open to people on foot and bicycle, which is why Lee Falls feels so remote for a waterfall less than an hour from Portland’s west side. A fish ladder on the far side of the river helps fish get past the falls.

Geology

The Tualatin River pours over a wide ledge of angular basalt blocks at Lee Falls, which gives the falls its classic block shape: a broad sheet of water much wider than the drop is tall. The same basalt shows up as cliffs above the road on the walk in. These are volcanic rocks of the northern Coast Range, and the river has cut its canyon down through them before reaching the softer valley floor at Cherry Grove.

Because the Tualatin is a rain-fed Coast Range river, the falls change a lot with the seasons: a thundering, river-wide sheet after winter storms, and a set of separate chutes over the rocks by late summer.

Directions & Access

• Nearest City: Gaston, about 6 miles east; Forest Grove is about 12 miles northeast.
  • From Highway 47 in Gaston, take Old Highway 47 toward Patton Valley, turn left on SW Bates Road, then left on SW Patton Valley Road. Drive 5 miles to Cherry Grove, turn left on Cherry Grove Drive, right on SW Summit Avenue, then left on gravel SW Lee Falls Road.
• Trail Info: Walk past the gate and follow the gravel road up the river canyon. Stay on the road; the land on both sides is private. Little Lee Falls is reached by a short side path near the river at the first bend, and Lee Falls is farther up the road at a wide spot in the river.
• Parking: This is the hard part. Do not park at or near the gate: neighbors object strongly, and cars have been vandalized. No Parking signs have been posted along Lee Falls Road since 2017, so you may need to park legally on a public street in Cherry Grove and walk in. Check current signs before you go.
• Accessibility: The gravel road is wide and gently graded, so the walk is easy underfoot, but its length makes it a half-day outing. It is also a good short bike ride.

Best Time to Visit

• Spring: The best season. Flow is high, and the road is lined with trillium, violets, Indian plum and iris.
• Summer: Flow drops and the pool below the falls becomes a busy local swimming hole. Parking is tightest now; Oregon Hikers calls summer “not a particularly good time to visit.”
• Fall: Flow returns with the first rains, the crowds are gone, and the bigleaf maples turn gold.
• Winter: The falls are at their most powerful after storms. The low-elevation road rarely sees snow, but expect mud and puddles.

Nearby Attractions

• Little Lee Falls: a smaller drop on the same walk, reached by a short path near the first bend in the road.
• Henry Hagg Lake (Scoggins Valley Park): a Washington County park near Gaston with hiking, fishing and paddling.
• Tualatin Valley wine country: wineries around Gaston and Forest Grove make an easy add-on.
• Forest Grove: a historic college town with places to eat after the hike.

References

• Links:
  • Oregon Hikers – Lee Falls Hike
  • Oregon Hikers – Lee Falls Road Trailhead (directions and parking)
  • Wikipedia – Lee Falls
  • Wikipedia – Cherry Grove, Oregon
• Books:
  • Waterfall Lover’s Guide: Pacific Northwest by Gregory Alan Plumb