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Gossamer Falls is a surprisingly significant waterfall found along a small unnamed branch of Big Blowout Creek on the south side of Bessemer Mountain. The likely seasonal stream spreads out and veils over a fractured granite face, dropping 102 feet into a grotto of ferns and alder trees. The falls have a moderate pitch and are significantly affected by foreshortening when viewed up close, but fortunately the forest downstream of the falls is not terribly thick and clear views of the falls can be had from a distance which adequately illustrates the size of the drop. Strangely this waterfall does not seem to have generated much (if any) attention despite the fact that it can be seen from the same road as its much less impressive sibling, Switchback Falls, which is found just downstream.
- Gossamer Falls is the Proposed name of this waterfall.
We don’t know this waterfall to have ever been recognized or named, though given the DNR’s relatively heavy use of the Bessemer Road, they may have an unofficial title for it which hasn’t been published anywhere. Lacking any evidence to suggest otherwise, we are operating on the assumption that it is not a named feature and have proposed the name Gossamer Falls for it’s lacy, delicate veiling character.
Gossamer Falls is located on a small parcel of Department of Natural Resources land in the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River valley near North Bend. Exit Interstate 90 at Edgewick Road (Exit 34) and head north past the truck stop for one-quarter mile to SE Middle Fork Road and turn left. Proceed just over 7 miles (the first 2.5 are paved) to a signed and gated road on the left and park. This marks the beginning of the DNR’s Bessemer Road. As of 2012 a Discover Pass is required to legally park here. Begin hiking along the gated road, which climbs gently for the first mile, to where it intersects the CCC Trail. Continue following the obvious road up the hill where all trails and spurs branch off. About a mile and three-quarters from the trailhead is an active quarry, where trucks and heavy equipment may be encountered during the weekdays – stay clear of traffic and out of the quarry area. Continue straight past the quarry, climbing up three sharp switchbacks. At the 2.6 mile mark you will encounter Switchback Falls immediately adjacent to the road (see link below), and one more sharp switchback and a fifth of a mile further will cross at the top of Switchback Falls. Gossamer Falls can be seen upstream from this point, with a closer approach available by scrambling up the slope to the left of the stream and traversing through the open forest for another 300 feet upstream to the base of the falls.
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