The Orfalch Echor was the great ravine through the Dry River of the Encircling Mountains by which Gondolin was approached.
The Orfalch Echor was the route that Elemmakil led Tuor and Voronwë through to meet Ecthelion of the Fountain. At its lower end was the First Gate, the Gate of Wood. The Orfalch continued through the remainder of the Seven Gates of Gondolin, reaching the Seventh Gate, the Gate of Steel. At the upper end was a high sward that offered a view of Tumladen and the city in its center.
During Húrin's wanderings, he came upon the Orfalch Echor, only to find the old Way of Escape buried underneath "a great fall of stones beneath a sheer rock-wall".