Tumalo Falls hiker rescued after fall down steep embankment

(Update: Correcting the falls are on Tumalo Creek)

A southern Oregon woman who apparently went off the marked trail at Tumalo Falls fell about 20 feet down a steep embankment, prompting a rescue effort, officials said.

Deschutes County 911 dispatchers got a call shortly before 3 p.m. reporting that Elizabeth Wright, 57, of Jacksonville, Oregon, had fallen down a steep embankment at the falls and was stuck, with no way to get up or down, according to sheriff’s Deputy Joshua Westfall, assistant search and rescue coordinator.

A deputy responded to the scene, and with the help of a citizen lowered an anchored stabilizing rope to Wright, who was near the bottom of the falls, between a side trail and Tumalo Creek, Westfall said. The rope prevented Wright from falling any further until more help arrived.

A short time later, 16 Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue volunteers, comprised primarily of the Mountain Rescue and Swift Water units, responded to the scene.

They lowered themselves to Wright’s location, by rope and harness, and helped lift her back to the trail, Westfall said.

Wright sustained non-life-threatening injuries in the fall. As a result, the SAR volunteers took her down the trail on a wheeled litter to her vehicle. Westfall said she declined further medical attention and was left in a family member’s care.

Westfall said deputies determined Wright and her party had gone off the marked trail, onto a side trail blocked by several downed trees. She was attempting to navigate a narrow section of the trail when she fell down the embankment.

“The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office would like to remind the general public to please stay on marked trails while hiking in the Tumalo Falls area,” Westfall’s news release concluded.