Niagara Falls and Pheasant Creek Falls

The Niagara Falls trail goes to two waterfalls, neither one on Niagara Creek. Niagara Falls got its name from its proximity to Niagara Point, a 1,732 ft / 528 m mountain peak near Willamina. It is the first waterfall the Niagara Falls trail arrives at, but is not the more spectacular falls at the end of the trail. That one is Pheasant Creek Falls.

We hiked to both falls on 2/13/16 and took photos. Our rough measurement of Niagara Falls was 103.5' which seemed plausible considering the official height of the Pheasant Creek Falls is 124 feet. However, the official height of Niagara Falls, according to the World Waterfall Database is 122 feet! I could see no way these two falls are so close to the same height. The U.S. Forest Service, on the other hand, says it is 107' which is much closer to our approximation. I wrote to Bryan Swan, who does the Northwest Waterfall Survey and he explained why Niagara looks so much shorter than it really is:

"It's an illusion called foreshortening - essentially the tendency of something to look smaller because you're so close to it.  I honestly questioned my measurement of that one as well..., but I measured it with a laser rangefinder and it's proven over the years to be exceedingly accurate (with a margin of error of about 15 feet or so)."

We'll have to get a laser rangefinder!

Here are two photos of Niagara Falls taken from close to the bottom of the falls. (The trail passes just below the falls.)

For more info on this falls, see the Northwest Waterfall Survey: Niagara Falls
http://www.waterfallsnorthwest.com/nws/falls.php?num=4084

The official sites say Niagara Falls is seasonal with a 7 month run. However, we were there on 8/12/2012 and there was water flowing over both falls, not much but some. Probably in very dry years, it does dry up late summer.

World Waterfall Database: http://www.worldwaterfalldatabase.com/waterfall/Niagara-Falls-4084/


Here are two photos of Pheasant Creek Falls, taken from a distance, on 2/13/16.

The below photo was taken from a slightly different angle, making it look like the falls actually has two drops, which it does "officially" with the tallest drop 106', upper drop 18'.

Northwest Waterfall Survey website: Pheasant Creek Falls 
http://www.waterfallsnorthwest.com/nws/falls.php?num=4079 

World Waterfall Database: http://www.worldwaterfalldatabase.com/waterfall/Pheasant-Creek-Falls-4079/