Willamette falls is one of the worst emergency rooms I've visited. For more information, email For more information about trips, please email them at The walk to the museum is about a quarter of a mile, so make sure you dress for the weather. Reservations on the 49-passanger voyages are not available except for bigger groups. The willamette falls are historic and beautiful, they may be small but oh so worth seeing. "They miss out on all the history and information about the falls and what it has meant to Oregon City and the state. But if you are traveling through in the winter it’s worth the trip as well. Soon, it won’t be.The first step in the Willamette Falls Legacy Project is already taking shape: a new riverwalk that connects historic downtown Oregon City to Willamette Falls along the Willamette River. Willamette Falls Legacy Project officials met April 8 to discuss the future of the riverwalk at Willamette Falls. Since the museum is surrounded by a working business, make sure you watch out for forklifts and other traffic.There is so much history about the locks themselves, that you could spend an afternoon reading and learning about how the locks were built, how they were operated in their heyday and what their fate is today.If industry and the history of the locks around the falls aren't your cup of tea and you would rather get up close and personal with the falls, a trip on the Belle of the Falls is in order.Available during the summer months during the weekends, the small sternwheeler will take you to the base of the falls and let you feel the spray hit your face. Turn left on Clackamette Drive to the transit dockMost people don't know there is more to visiting Willamette Falls than just stopping at one of the two viewpoints alongside Interstate 205 or Highway 99E. As for emergency, they couldn't give a rats ass. The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde presented an alternative riverfront concept they’ve developed for the first phase of the riverwalk. "The museum, located along the oldest continuously operating multi-lift lock and canal system in the United States, offers a glimpse into the history of not only the development that today surrounds the falls, but also how native Americans used the falls as fishing grounds. "By visiting the museum, which is about a quarter-mile walk from the West Linn Police Department parking lot, you could even get the special treat of seeing boats go through the locks and watch how the locks operate. "People stop by the viewpoints and they look at the falls for 20 minutes and leave," says Sandy Carter, director of the Willamette Falls Heritage Foundation. For more than 150 years, its awe-inspiring beauty has been closed to the public. It's a natural resource with a long history that continues today along the Willamette River. In creating the riverwalk, the project partners are transforming this abandoned site into a world-class public space.The Willamette Falls Legacy Project is a partnership of Oregon City, Clackamas County, Metro and the State of Oregon, with the support and participation of the site’s private owners, stakeholders and thousands of community members. Ask gatehouse personnel - a paper mill straddles the falls - for directions is a good idea of you are unclear where to go. It's worth the wait.The pathway down to the locks has about three staircases, and can be a little tricky to find. The alternate design seeks to support the Willamette Falls Legacy Project’s four core values, the riverwalk conceptual design, and meets Grand Ronde’s site cleanup and development goals.Willamette Falls is the second most powerful waterfall in North America and an important Oregon historical and cultural treasure.
You just sit and wait and wait and wait FOREVER! "It has a lot of information about the how the locks were designed and the falls. Summer time when the sun sets is perfect.
The one-hour tour will take you to the base of the falls. Costs vary from $38 for a family pass to $15 for adults and $7 for children between the ages of three and 12. If you want to make sure you can see a boat go through the locks, contact the lockmaster's office at 503-656-3381 and they can tell you when boats are scheduled to go through.To board the Belle of the Falls: Take Interstate 205 to the McLoughlin Boulevard/Oregon City exit then travel north on McLoughlin Boulevard to Clackamette Drive. "The museum is self guided and we urge people to sign in the guest book so we know how many people are visiting," Carter says as she walks up the stairs in the museum.