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Lower Quartz Creek Falls
   Skamania County, Washington

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

Quartz Creek apparently possesses several small waterfalls but since the Quartz Creek Trail stays well above the creek most of the time, very few of them can be seen. This is the final waterfall along the creek, found at the exact point where Straight and Quartz Creeks merge. Straight Creek flows across pitted orange bedrock and slides into Quartz Creek as Quartz Creek bends sharply around a tall rock buttress, then the collective water slides 24 feet in a narrow flume, slamming into the wall on the side of the large pool below the falls. There is no access to the bottom of the falls, and even reaching the top of the falls can be a little precarious, so I'd suggest leaving this one be and focusing on the better falls in the area.

HISTORY AND NAMING INFORMATION

  • Lower Quartz Creek Falls is the name of this waterfall.

This one is known as Straight Creek Falls among the kayaking community due to its placement at the confluence, but Straight Creek Falls is actually upstream on Straight Creek itself, so a disambiguation is necessary.

LOCATION AND DIRECTIONS

moderate access

Take Interstate 5 to the town of Woodland, and exit onto Highway 503 heading east. Follow 503 east to Cougar, and continue to Forrest Service Road # 90, just passed the Pine Creek Ranger Station. Follow FR 90 for 17 miles to the Quartz Creek Trail. Hike a moderate 2 miles to the bridgeless crossing of Straight Creek. Carefully wade down the right bank of Straight Creek (the rocks are very slick) to the rocks above the falls. There are campsites on the opposite side of Straight Creek.

Latitude

46.19512 N

Longitude

-121.82693 W

Elevation

1892 feet

USGS Quadrangle

Quartz Creek Butte 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

Straight Creek Falls

0.147 miles

Quartz Creek Falls

0.196 miles

Lower Snagtooth Falls

2.505 miles

Taitnapum Falls

2.513 miles

Upper Lewis River Falls

2.875 miles

Snagtooth Falls

3.041 miles

Middle Lewis River Falls

4.173 miles

Copper Creek Falls

4.247 miles

Lower Copper Creek Falls

4.285 miles

Tillicum Creek Falls

4.444 miles

 

 

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Magnitude

23.05

IWC

2.01  (Class 3)

RATING

35.29 %

 

NO PICTURES CURRENTLY AVAILABLE

 

PHYSICAL MAKEUP

Height

24 feet

Tallest Drop

24 feet

Num. Drops

1

AVG. Width

5 feet

Pitch

68 degrees

Run

10 feet

Primary Form

Sliding Punchbowl

 

Watershed

Lewis River

Stream

Quartz Creek

AVG. Volume

200.0 cfs

Source

Unknown

Seasonality

Best Flows

Year Round

 
 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Search for Lower Quartz Creek Falls on Google

Information on this waterfall at the World Waterfall Database

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

       
 

UPDATE HISTORY

May 21, 2011

Added Full Review of the Waterfall, including Pictures

 
 
 
 
 

 

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