Friends of the Kalmiopsis

Little Illinois River Falls

Located in southwest Oregon, the Little Illinois River Falls offers a full, six-foot drop when the water level is up. It is part of the Little Illinois River Wild and Scenic River, which flows from the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest boundary to its confluence with the Wild and Scenic Rogue River, a distance of 50 miles. The river's outstandingly remarkable activities include white water recreation, fishing, and hiking.

With the rains comes the Illinois River’s wild chinook salmon but the window is extremely narrow to see large numbers of fish at the falls. It all depends on the timing of fall rains, which bring the salmon upriver, and then the right amount of water is required for them to get over the falls, but not so much to wash them out.

To get to the Little Falls parking area, take the Eight Dollar Mountain Road, which leaves the Redwood Hwy. between Selma and Cave Junction. Just after the Eight Dollar Mountain Darlingtonia Boardwalk parking area, the two-lane road turns into the single lane Forest Service Road – 4201, also known as the T.J. Howell Memorial Drive or Babyfoot Lake Road. The Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest’s Little Falls parking area is on the left side. There’s a trail down to the river.