HOME  |  BLOG  |  SEARCH   |  TOP 100  |  CONTRIBUTE  |  HELP  |  CONTACT  

 

BEST OF THE NORTHWEST

The 100 best waterfalls the Pacific Northwest has to offer

:

1 . GREEN LAKE FALLS    

100

Green Lake Falls is thus far the highest rated waterfall in the Pacific Northwest. The falls explode almost 1000 feet down the headwall below Green Lake in North Cascades National Park, first in a dome-shaped 300 foot tall sliding horsetail, then fa... (Full description)

 

2 . DEPOT CREEK FALLS    

95.47

The main waterfall of Depot Creek is one of the true juggernaut waterfalls in North America and by some standards might be one of the 100 best waterfalls on the planet. Depot Creek heads in three large glaciers on the north face of Mount Redoubt - i... (Full description)

 

3 . BERDEEN FALLS    

91.72

As Bacon Creek exits Berdeen Lake, it flows over a pair of impressive waterfalls. While not quite on par with nearby Green Lake Falls (then again, not many are), Berdeen Falls does its best not to be outdone. Shortly below Lower Berdeen Lake, Bacon C... (Full description)

 

4 . SULPHIDE CREEK FALLS    

91.64

Sulphide Creek plunges over one of the tallest waterfalls in North America as it exits Sulphide Lake on the southeastern shoulder of Mount Shuksan. The creek empties into an exceptionally narrow gorge before exploding down a flume, ending over 2000 f... (Full description)

 

5 . SNOQUALMIE FALLS    

90.38

Snoqualmie Falls is by far the most famous waterfall in Washington, receiving over 1.5 million visitors every year. There are several very good views all along the gorge rim, the best of which is from a covered platform near the parking area, as well... (Full description)

 

6 . JORDAN CREEK FALLS    

88.2

Jordan Creek Falls is, simply put, absolutely immense. Short of a flooding Snoqualmie Falls, I'm honestly not sure there is another waterfall in the Pacific Northwest that is both accessible in one day and anywhere near as powerful as Jordan Creek F... (Full description)

 

7 . RUSH CREEK FALLS    

84.55

The sheer force of this gargantuan display warrants more attention than all the other waterfalls in the area combined. Spray from the falls is exploded hundreds of feet into the air, causing mosses to grow along the canyon walls all 360 degrees aroun... (Full description)

 

8 . COMET FALLS    

83.43

If there was one waterfall that every visitor to Mount Rainier National Park should see, Comet Falls is it. Van Trump Creek hurtles from the lip of a lofty hanging valley, plunging in three steps flanked by lofty amphitheater cliffs of Andesite. Th... (Full description)

 

9 . ANGELINE FALLS    

82.21

Angeline Falls is a 450 foot tall juggernaut where the subterranean outlet of Angeline Lake emerges from a long gully covered in talus and braids down the cliffs at the head of Delta Lake in a 120 foot wide wall of water, within the the Alpine Lakes ... (Full description)

 

10 . UPPER STEVENS CREEK FALLS    

81.96

At the head of Stevens Canyon, there are two large waterfalls; Upper Stevens Creek Falls, and Fairy Falls. Fairy Falls is the taller and much more famous of the two, though is difficult to reach. Upper Stevens Creek Falls is by far the superior water... (Full description)

 

11 . MAZAMA FALLS    

81.77

Mazama Falls is the largest waterfall in the Wells Creek drainage, thundering almost 500 feet into successive bowls carved into the headwall below Laisocarpe Ridge. The falls appear to consist of three major tiers, with smaller tiers possibly inters... (Full description)

 

12 . SHOSHONE FALLS    

80.47

Shoshone Falls, known as "The Niagara of the West", is one of the true great waterfalls of the North American continent. The falls of the Snake River plunge 212 feet over a horseshoe shaped formation over 900 feet in width. Unfortunately the grandi... (Full description)

 

13 . MULTNOMAH FALLS    

78.7

Widely advertised as the 4th tallest waterfall in the United States (which it is not, more later), and named in virtually every World Book and Almanac under the "tallest waterfalls of the world" section, Multnomah Falls is the undisputed best waterfa... (Full description)

 

14 . BRIDAL VEIL FALLS    

78.38

Bridal Veil Creek runs out of Cliff-ringed Lake Serene and launches down the valley wall in several large falls before joining the Skykomish River. Though never officially measured, the falls drop well over 1000 feet from it's source in Lake Serene. ... (Full description)

 

15 . LOWER LEWIS RIVER FALLS    

78.09

This beautiful and quite powerful waterfall actually looks better during lower water periods. When the water is high, a solid wall of water crashes into the large pool in spectacular fashion, but during low water periods, the falls look more graceful... (Full description)

 

16 . FALLS CREEK FALLS    

76.3

Despite the bland name, Falls Creek Falls is an absolute juggernaut. Descending over the western edge of the Red Mountain plateau, itself a product of the volcanic eruptions which created nearby Big Lava Field, Falls Creek thunders 60 feet over a fan... (Full description)

 

17 . DRURY FALLS    

75.8

Drury Falls is greatly under appreciated, flat out. Fall Creek is a pretty small stream, which usually runs dry by late August, but during peak snowmelt, it produces a fairly substantial volume of water. This is noteworthy, because Drury Falls is loc... (Full description)

 

18 . WALUPT CREEK FALLS    

75.38

Walupt Creek Falls had been on my hit list for years, well over a decade in fact. The first hint of its existence I came across was in Greg Plumb's 1983 "Waterfalls of the Pacific Northwest", which surmised at the location of the falls but didn't ha... (Full description)

 

19 . UPPER LEWIS RIVER FALLS    

74.61

While technically not the real upper waterfall of the Lewis River, Upper Lewis River Falls is the tallest of the four major falls on this section of the river. Here the Lewis encounters a strangely squared sheet of basalt, sheets out over the flat r... (Full description)

 

20 . COLONIAL CREEK FALLS    

74.45

Colonial Creek is, at first glance, a fairly discrete creek emptying into the placid waters of Diablo Lake's Thunder Arm. But looking up the right valley, one can glimpse portions of what may very well be the tallest waterfall in North America. Now... (Full description)

 

21 . SALT CREEK FALLS    

74.21

Salt Creek creates one of the most impressive waterfalls in Oregon as it hurtles 286 feet into a gaping canyon near Willamette Pass. The size of the falls isn’t terribly notable in the area, but rather the process by which the falls were formed. Glac... (Full description)

 

22 . LINTON FALLS    

73.39

Linton Falls is one of the few large waterfalls in Oregon that has remained widely undocumented, the reasons for which are a little puzzling. Linton Lake, which the falls drain into, is a popular destination along the McKenzie Pass corridor, and part... (Full description)

 

23 . ICE FALLS    

73.1

... (Full description)

 

24 . SPRAY FALLS    

72.96

Spray Falls is one of the best wateralls in Mount Rainier National Park, thats really all that needs to be said. The falls curtain down a wall of Andesite for almost 300 feet, spreading out to as much as 80 feet wide towards the bottom of the falls.... (Full description)

 

25 . LAVA CANYON FALLS    

72.92

Obviously the main focus of the May 18, 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens was the destruction of the surrounding land. However, the massive Lahar that resulted from the melting of the Shoestring Glacier sent a wall of water down the south side of the m... (Full description)

 

Page 1 of 4 | 1  2  3  4   Next »

 

Cataloged

 

Confirmed

 

Unconfirmed

 

Rumored / Suspected

THE GREAT DEBATE

The obvious question in regard to this topic is "How do you fairly quantify which are the best?"  Thats not an easy question to answer, because many people see different features of a waterfall with different perspectives.  While this list isn't infallable, I have been trying to fairly quantify the waterfalls of the Northwest since this website first went live in 1999.

With this revision of the website, I believe I have finally developed a system of rating waterfalls which weighs physical appearance, power, aesthetics and alteration in a way that any two waterfalls can be fairly compared against one another.  This list represents the 100 Best waterfalls in the Pacific Northwest based on this system (for more details on how the rating system works, see Rating System).

The initial results of this system surprised me a bit, particularly how some of the waterfalls of Oregon scored against those in Washington.  Because I have built in sort of a 'subjective override' to this system to allow me to manually adjust the ratings as I see it necessary, the order of the waterfalls shown may periodically change.

Click on any of the "Read More" links to be taken to the page detailing each entry.

 

 
 
 

 

HOME
BROWSE WASHINGTON
BROWSE OREGON
BROWSE IDAHO
SEARCH DATABASE

BEST OF THE NORTHWEST
WATERFALL BLOG
MAPS
WATERFALL PHOTOGRAPHY
PURCHASE PRINTS
RECENT UPDATES

ABOUT THE NWS
FIRST TIME VISITORS
CONTACT US

CONTRIBUTE TO THE SURVEY
DISCLAIMER

All content © 2010 Northwest Waterfall Survey unless otherwise noted.
No part of this website may be reproduced, either electronically or on paper, without the author's written consent.