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Wells Creek Falls is one of the more easily accessible waterfalls in the Mount Baker area. The falls hurtle about 90 feet into a vertical walled amphitheater, which only opens where the creek empties. Prior to the floods of October 2003, the 1/5 mile walk to the base of the falls required wading through part of Wells Creek, and fording it at least once. The floods did away with all of that, turning the entire streambed from the falls to the road into a giant gravel bar. Crossing the creek is still necessary, but currently, there are a couple logs the make it possible without getting wet. The walk up is quite enjoyable, and the canyon below the falls is exceptionally scenic. On the drive to the falls, there are some spectacular views of Mt. Baker across the floodplain of Wells and Bar Creeks.
- Wells Creek Falls is the Historical name of this waterfall.
While this is easily the most accessible waterfall along Wells Creek, the name of the falls seems to have been lost long ago. A map I found, which was produced in 1912, officially shows this as Wells Creek Falls, and places the height at 90 feet, but the Forest Service and the USGS never appear to have marked the falls by name on any maps they have produced. Oddly, the difficult to access Mazama Falls, which occurs about 2 miles upstream along Wells Creek, has been named, and marked on most maps since before the 1912 map was produced. I suspect Wells Creek Falls was discovered by the same party which discovered and named Mazama Falls.
Located near Mount Baker, off Highway 542. Heading east from Maple Falls, along Highway 542, proceed 7 miles east of the Glacier Ranger Station, to Wells Creek Road # 33, also signed for Nooksack Falls. As of August 2004, Wells Creek Road remains damaged from the October 2003 floods, and is closed at the Wells Creek crossing at milepost 5.1. From the end of the road, climb down to the streambed of Wells Creek, and proceed up the streambed for about 1/5 of a mile, to where the creek flows out of the large amphitheater. Crossing the creek once, as mentioned above, is necessary. How you do this is up to you.
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