Most people skip this place, which is too bad, because it’s one of the best waterfall experiences in the gorge! It’s easy to understand, however, why people miss it. The Columbia River Highway is narrow and windy, with many blind curves. Shepherds Dell sneaks up on you, and I would imagine that a lot of people don’t even see the sign. They pass it before they even realize it was there. Unlike other waterfalls, you cannot see very much of anything without getting out of the car. All the action is below the bridge. If you don’t get out of the car, you will miss it completely. But one step below the bridge, and you will realize that it’s a worthwhile stop. Just below the bridge, there is a narrow paid footpath that goes from the highway, down by somewhat steep path, about the length of a football field. It curves gently to the right, and you find yourself at the top of a beautiful waterfall. The falls run directly under the bridge, and the beauty of this tiny little natural area is that you can see the whole thing in 5 minutes. It’s perfect for our Instagram/TicTok era attention span. A potential difficulty is that there is no actual parking lot, just a larger than average pull-out after the bridge. This makes it easier to miss, but it also adds to its charm.