A person died in a fall at Silver Falls State Park on Monday, August 10, when they fell from the top of South Falls, a 177-foot waterfall.
Emergency crews responded to the park at around 6:30 p.m.
The person had crossed into a closed-off area to pose for photos at the top of the waterfall when they slipped and fell into the water below.
Witnesses attempted to save the person but they died at the scene.
Their name has not yet been released.
South Falls, one of the best-known waterfalls in Oregon and a centerpiece of Silver Falls State Park, plunges approximately 177 feet into the canyon below.
Silver Falls State Park is called the “crown jewel” of the Oregon State Parks system.
The Trail of Ten Falls is a moderate 8-mile hike that loops from the South Falls Day Use Area to the North Falls Trailhead and back.
Visitors can admire the breathtaking view from above before descending into a cave behind the falls along the Maple Ridge Loop.
Rock near waterfalls can be slick even during the summer, while steep drop-offs that appear manageable from a distance can leave little room to recover from a slip.
Visitors to Silver Falls and other waterfall destinations around Oregon should remain on designated trails and viewpoints and respect barriers, closure signs and areas marked off by park officials.
Monday’s tragedy comes just days after another fatal fall at a well-known Oregon waterfall—on August 1, a 19-year-old man from Kennewick, Washington, died after falling from a cliff above Punchbowl Falls in the Columbia River Gorge.
The two deaths happened at different locations and under different circumstances, but together they are a sobering reminder of how quickly an outing near Oregon’s waterfalls and cliffs can turn dangerous.
In the viral moment of Monday evening at Silver Falls State Park,
an investigation indicates the person had crossed into a closed off area to pose for photos at the top of the waterfall when they slipped and fell into the water below.
No court date or future investigative hearing has been announced.