Proxy Falls McKenzie River
— — water that finds its way back into the rock.
Not only on a wall.
“Two parallel ribbons fall about two hundred feet down a moss-furred basalt cliff, then disappear into the porous lava field at the base. No outflow stream. The water goes underground and surfaces miles downhill at White Branch Creek. The trail in is a short loop through old-growth and lichen, with two viewpoints. The road is closed when snow comes.
Proxy Falls McKenzie River, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Proxy Falls sits in the Willamette National Forest along the Old McKenzie Highway, Oregon Route 242, inside the Three Sisters Wilderness. The falls drop about 226 feet down a step of basalt in two parallel ribbons rather than a single column. The trailhead is roughly thirty-seven miles east of the town of McKenzie Bridge. Route 242 is closed by snow most of the year and generally reopens in late June or early July, closing again in November.
The falls have no visible outflow. Water lands on the porous lava field at the cliff's base and sinks straight through, traveling underground through fractured basalt before emerging at White Branch Creek miles downhill. The cascade is fed by snowmelt from the Three Sisters and runs heaviest in early summer. The cliff face is densely covered in moss and ferns, kept wet by constant spray. The surrounding lava field dates to the eruption of Belknap Crater roughly 1,500 years ago.
Highway 242 is a seasonal road. The Oregon Department of Transportation typically closes it from November through late June, depending on snowpack. The reliable viewing window is July through October, with peak flow in early summer and the surrounding vine maple turning red in October. The hike is a loop of about 1.5 miles with mild elevation gain. Two designated viewpoints look at the upper and lower halves of the falls. The area is day-use only.