Sherar's Falls, is a small waterfall along the

Deschutes River Deschutes River may refer to: *Deschutes River (Oregon) The Deschutes River in central Oregon is a major tributary of the Columbia River. The river provides much of the drainage on the eastern side of the Cascade Range in Oregon, gathering many ...

shortly before emptying into the Columbia River. It is a place considered a sacred fishing ground by local native tribes. It is located just north of the city of Maupin on Oregon Route 216 at Sherar's Bridge in

Wasco County Wasco County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,213. Its county seat is The Dalles. The county is named for a local tribe of Native Americans, the Wasco, a Chinook tribe w ...

, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

. It totals fall in a single drop and is the last waterfall along the Deschutes River before the Columbia River. The waterfall is rated as a class 6 whitewater and has an administrative closure to boaters because of the danger. It was named after Joseph Sherar, a 19th-century wagon road builder.

Location

Sherars Falls is located in Tygh Valley and is crossed upstream by Sherar's Bridge for

Barlow Road The Barlow Road (at inception, Mount Hood Road) is a historic road in what is now the U.S. state of Oregon. It was built in 1846 by Sam Barlow and Philip Foster, with authorization of the Provisional Legislature of Oregon, and served as the la ...

. The road is historically the place where wagon trains crossed the Deschutes River at and proceeded west in order to bypass

The Dalles The Dalles is the largest city of Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The population was 16,010 at the 2020 census, and it is the largest city on the Oregon side of the Columbia River between the Portland Metropolitan Area, and Hermiston ...

Fishing

The waters of Sherars Falls are located in the heart of the

Warm Springs Indian Reservation The Warm Springs Indian Reservation consists of in north-central Oregon, in the United States, and is governed by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. Tribes Three tribes form the confederation: the Wasco, Tenino (Warm Springs) and P ...

. The waterfall and its surroundings are a well-known location for Tribal fishing for

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...

and

steelhead Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the common name of the anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout or redband trout (O. m. gairdneri). Steelhead are native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific basin in Northeast Asia and ...

for subsistence purposes using the traditional dip-nets technique. This method has been used by tribes to fish in the particularly rough waters of waterfalls and rapids. The setting around the waterfall makes it a prime location to use dip-net fishing. Many fishermen reach from surrounding boulders although several platforms have been erected by the local tribe members. Only tribal members are permitted to fish on and around these structures by federal permit issued to the Warm Springs Reservation.

Regulations

Fishing for salmon, steelhead and

Lamprey eel Lampreys (sometimes inaccurately called lamprey eels) are an ancient extant lineage of jawless fish of the order Petromyzontiformes , placed in the superclass Cyclostomata. The adult lamprey may be characterized by a toothed, funnel-like s ...

is regulated by the tribal council. Fishing is allowed 24 hours a day and is monitored by the Fish and Wildlife Committee. Marked spring Chinook, marked and unmarked fall Chinook, and

coho The coho salmon (''Oncorhynchus kisutch;'' Karuk: achvuun) is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family and one of the five Pacific salmon species. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon or "silvers". The scientific species name is ...

as well as marked steelhead may be kept after being fished. On the other hand, regulations require all un-marked spring Chinook and steelhead, and

sockeye The sockeye salmon (''Oncorhynchus nerka''), also called red salmon, kokanee salmon, blueback salmon, or simply sockeye, is an anadromous species of salmon found in the Northern Pacific Ocean and rivers discharging into it. This species is a P ...

to be released year round. Lamprey harvest at Sherars Falls is allowed when lamprey arrive from June through the end of August using hands or hand-powered tools such as dip nets or gaffs. Freezer harvest will end after 750 eels are caught.Fishery regulations for 2022.
(2022, April 18). Spilyay Tymoo.

References

{{Authority control Waterfalls of Oregon Waterfalls of Wasco County, Oregon

Location

Fishing

Regulations

See also

References