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Laura Falls
   Kittitas County, Washington

[ Physical Makeup ]  [ Pictures ]  [ Maps ]  [ Update History ]

Almost immediately upon exiting small Lake Laura, Rocky Run Creek plunges over a gorgeous 77-foot waterfall into a large boulder field. Though not nearly as tall as either of its sibling waterfalls, both upstream and down, Laura Falls is an almost perfect freefall, veiling out over a wide shelf in the headwall cliff-band below Laura Lake. The falls are quite stunning, and make for an outstanding photography subject when the proper lighting exists. Rocky Run Creek at this point is almost entirely dependent on snow melt for sustenance and though the small basin above Lake Lillian retains a significant amount of snow into July, the falls become less impressive as the summer progresses and while it usually does flow all year by September is usually just a trickle.

HISTORY AND NAMING INFORMATION

  • Laura Falls is the Adopted name of this waterfall.

LOCATION AND DIRECTIONS

moderate access

From the Snoqualmie Pass summit, head east on I-90 to the Gold Creek exit and follow FSR #4832 signed for Gold Creek. The road passes the turnoff for Gold Creek after a mile, crosses Rocky Run Creek and then begins climbing as a gravel road. After 3.9 miles, bear left onto road #4832-136 (not usually marked). Road 136 is usually overgrown and as of July 2011 there was some nasty rutting right at the beginning that low clearance vehicles may not be able to get over (don't drive a car up it unless you don't mind seriously scratching the paint). Follow road 136 for just under 2 miles, bearing right at a fork at the halfway mark, to a large parking area at a tight switchback in the road. Find the trail at the back of the parking area and follow it up the valley through a clearcut and then into the forest, encountering Rocky Run Falls after about half of a mile. The trail then climbs very steeply to the top of Rocky Run Falls and briefly levels off again. Shortly before the trail begins climbing up the second headwall, drop down to the basin below the cliffs (stay in the forest to avoid devils club and a boulder field) and traverse northeast for a few hundred feet to the falls.

Latitude

47.39715 N

Longitude

-121.34346 W

Elevation

4332 feet

USGS Quadrangle

Chikamin Peak 7 1/2"

Online USGS Topographic maps on Terraserver

Aerial Photographs: Terraserver | Flash Earth

Download KML

Open this location in Google Earth

OTHER NEARBY WATERFALLS

Name

Distance

Rocky Run Falls

0.092 miles

Lillian Falls

0.331 miles

Twin Lakes Falls

0.446 miles

Unnamed Waterfall

1.246 miles

Unnamed Waterfall

1.949 miles

Box Canyon Lake Falls

2.371 miles

Stonesthrow Falls

2.527 miles

Lower Rachel Falls

2.972 miles

Upper Rachel Falls

2.983 miles

Box Canyon Creek Falls

3.102 miles

 

 

See all waterfalls in Kittitas County

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Magnitude

32.05

IWC

0.22  (Class 1)

RATING

48.34 %

 

Photo of Laura Falls

[ View Pictures ]

 

PHYSICAL MAKEUP

Height

77 feet

Tallest Drop

77 feet

Num. Drops

1

AVG. Width

20 feet

Pitch

90 degrees

Run

10 feet

Primary Form

Vertical Curtain

 

Watershed

Yakima River

Stream

Rocky Run Creek

AVG. Volume

20.0 cfs

Source

Lake

Seasonality

8 months

Best Flows

May to August

 
 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Search for Laura Falls on Google

Information on this waterfall at the World Waterfall Database

Search for more pictures at:
Flickr | PBase | Webshots | Smugmug

       
 

UPDATE HISTORY

Sep 18, 2011

Re-surveyed and accurately measured this waterfall

 
 
 
 
 

 

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