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Cherry Creek drops over a pair of beautiful waterfalls into the crystal calm waters of miniscule Cherry Lake. This is a very interesting waterfall, if you are fortunate enough to be able to reach it. The creek flows out of wetlands in two streams and converges above the falls, then just below the convergence, it splits in two and drops over the falls. The left side plunges over a very attractive fan shaped veil and slides over bedrock for 50 feet before plunging another 20 feet to the lake. The right side cascades 20 feet down a series of steps and slides, very similar to a waterfall in California's Lassen National Park called "The Cascades", then slides down a tiered 60 foot waterfall to join the lake (shown here). Here's a wide angle shot of the whole right segment (it looks much smaller in this photo). It almost looked as if a large root wad atop the falls allowed the creek to split as it does, and if it is ever moved, one of the two segments may lose it's flow to the other. Upper Cherry Lake Falls lies about .2 mile upstream, beyond another swampy area.
- Cherry Lake Falls is the Adopted name of this waterfall.
Pay attention, this one is not so easy to find. Drive south of Monroe along Highway 203 just past the bridge over the Skykomish River, and turn left onto Ben Howard Road. Drive along this route for about 7 miles to the signed Cedar Ponds Road. Drive for about 1 mile on Cedar Ponds Road to where the pavement ends, and in another 1/4 mile, the road forks. Stay right and continue for another 1 1/2 miles to the bridge across Youngs Creek above Youngs Creek Falls. Pass the bridge over Marckworth Falls in another 1/2 mile. Keep on the main road for about another 2 1/2 miles to a road forking uphill to the left (I think it's the third left after Youngs Creek), and proceed to the gate in a few hundred feet. Park and walk along the road from the gate for about 7/10 mile to the crossing of Cherry Creek just downstream from Upper Cherry Creek Falls. While standing in the large open area near the road, look towards the hill on the right of the falls and find the boot path leading uphill. This path leads all the way to Cherry Lake, about 6/10 of a mile back. However, there are so many wind fallen trees and the path is so overgrown that you cannot follow the path all the way, so just improvise when you have to. Once you reach the lake, you will be able to hear the falls. Once you make the lake, bash your way to the far shore near the inlet, and work back to the base of the right segment of the falls. The bottom of the left segment is about 100 feet to your left. The larger upper tier of the left segment can be seen by climbing the mossy hillside in between the two segments, and crossing the left stream segment in between the tiers. I suggest you take a topo map and a GPS / compass when trying to reach the lake and falls.
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