Koosah Falls
Oregon · 74-foot drop · Last verified 2026-05-15
Flow at Koosah Falls is 129 cfs today, around its seasonal average.
Expect dry conditions today — don't drive out for this one. Flow is at 129 cfs (bottom 0% of the last 30 days, vs. 136.3 cfs average). The 7-day NOAA forecast shows no significant rain.
Right now
Streamflow
129 cfs
MCKENZIE RIVER AT OUTLET · 33m ago
Overnight
50°F
Clear
Thursday
78°F
Sunny
Today's daylight
Sunrise 6:40 AM · Sunset 7:29 PM · 12h 49m
Snapshot built 12m ago. Sources: USGS · NWS PQR.
Koosah Falls is a waterfall in Linn County, Oregon. It drops roughly 74 feet. Access details and conditions have not yet been verified in person by Fallspots — the data on this page comes from OpenStreetMap and USGS GNIS.
Koosah Falls sits in Linn County, Oregon. It drops along McKenzie River. The base sits at roughly 2,795 feet of elevation. Drive time is about 24 minutes from Black Butte Ranch. A trail — Waterfalls Loop Trail #3503 — runs within 20 meters of the marked location. This is one of the more frequently visited falls in the state by our popularity model. Source records come from OpenStreetMap and USGS GNIS.
Koosah Falls, also known as Middle Falls, is the second of the three major waterfalls on the McKenzie River in the heart of the Willamette National Forest in Linn County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. The waterfall is notable for its main drop of 64 feet (20 m) that plunges into a considerable pool, south of Santiam Pass. Koosah Falls is located 0.5 miles (0.80 km) downstream south of Sahalie Falls, southeast of Salem, Oregon, northeast of Eugene, Oregon and west of Mt. Washington. The word koosah means "sky" in Chinook Jargon.
Is the water flowing right now?
Most waterfall sites don't tell you this. The waterfall itself is almost never gauged, but a USGS streamgage in the same watershed can tell you whether snowmelt has started, peaked, or run dry.
USGS gage 14158500 · 1.2 mi away
MCKENZIE RIVER AT OUTLET OF CLEAR LAKE, OR
View live discharge data →
30-day streamflow
Near 30-day average↻ Same date last year: 197 cfs · 65% of last year — significantly drier
When to go (from the climate data, not our opinion)
Monthly averages from Open-Meteo's reanalysis dataset (2020–2024). Highlighted months are when we think the waterfall is at its best — but the numbers are the numbers regardless.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip (in) | Snow days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 42 | 30 | 12.7 | 18.6 |
| Feb | 42 | 28 | 8.4 | 18 |
| Mar | 45 | 29 | 7.1 | 19 |
| Apr | 51 | 34 | 7 | 12.2 |
| May | 60 | 40 | 6.4 | 6.4 |
| Jun | 69 | 47 | 3.9 | 1 |
| Jul | 82 | 54 | 0.2 | 0 |
| Aug | 81 | 54 | 0.6 | 0 |
| Sep | 74 | 49 | 3.1 | 0.2 |
| Oct | 62 | 42 | 6 | 3.8 |
| Nov | 47 | 32 | 11 | 12.6 |
| Dec | 43 | 30 | 14 | 17.2 |
Source: Open-Meteo Historical Weather API · ERA5 reanalysis 2020–2024.
Compare to nearby falls
If this one isn't the right fit, here's how it stacks up against the closest documented falls. Every column is filterable on the site — not buried in 13,000 reviews.
| Waterfall | Distance | Height | Trail | Dogs | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Koosah Falls (this page) | — | 74 ft | — | — | — |
| Sahalie Falls | 0 mi | 73 ft | — | — | — |
| Tamolitch Falls | 3 mi | — | — | — | — |
| House Rock Falls | 12 mi | — | — | — | — |
| Upper Proxy Falls | 13 mi | 129 ft | — | Y | Free |
| Proxy Falls | 13 mi | 226 ft | — | Y | Free |
Related waterfalls
On the same watercourse (McKenzie River)
Similar height (~74 ft)
- Little Niagara Falls74 ft
- Big Bradley Falls75 ft
- Curtain Falls75 ft
- Dead Point Falls75 ft
- Drift Creek Falls75 ft
Questions visitors ask about Koosah Falls
Answers built from our structured data. If a question isn't here, the fact is unverified — we'd rather omit than guess.
How tall is Koosah Falls?
Koosah Falls is 74 feet (22.6 m) tall. Height is sourced from OSM.
How far is Koosah Falls from a major city?
Koosah Falls is 16 miles from Black Butte Ranch (about 24 minutes' drive).
More waterfalls in Oregon
Where it is
44.3446, -122.0006
Sources and live status
Where we got the data, and where to check current conditions before you drive.
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koosah_Falls
Wikidata (Q30624052)
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30624052
GeoNames (5735421)
https://www.geonames.org/5735421/
Last verified by Fallspots: 2026-05-15
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