Punch Bowl Falls, Waterfall in Columbia River Gorge, Oregon, United States.
Punch Bowl Falls is a waterfall on Eagle Creek in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Oregon. It drops 35 feet (11 m) and is 10 feet (3.0 m) wide. Eagle Creek cuts through a narrow channel and shoots into a large bowl that resembles a punchbowl, the feature that gave the punchbowl waterfall classification its name.
The waterfall gained recognition as part of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, while remnants of a wooden staircase and concrete fish ladder upstream reflect historical efforts to manage salmon migration through Eagle Creek.
The waterfall gave its name to the punchbowl classification of waterfalls, a type in which a stream shoots through a narrow channel into a basin shaped like a punch bowl. The Oregon falls share their name with a separate set of falls in Jasper National Park, Alberta, near Miette Hot Springs.
Visitors can reach the falls via a 4.7-mile round-trip hike from Eagle Creek trailhead, though recent landslides require careful creek crossings and the trail includes cliff-edge sections with safety cables for handrails.
The 2017 landslide altered the stream flow between Punch Bowl Falls and Lower Punch Bowl Falls, creating new geological formations while the waterfall maintains its powerful jet of water shooting directly into the circular stone basin below.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,861 contributors worldwide.