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Trappers Peak Falls is a small volume but tantalizingly tall waterfall found just west of Newhalem in the Ross Lake National Recreation Area. The unnamed stream producing the falls drains from a tiny basin on the southern arm of Trappers Peak, which the Thornton Lakes Trail crosses several times as it ascends the ridge. The falls occur much further down the mountainside, where the stream empties into the Skagit Gorge proper via a 304-foot tall chain of cascades and plunges. Unfortunately, though the falls are quite easy to access they are very difficult to see thanks to an extreme level of foreshortening and thick stands of trees which surround the falls and prevent views from further away from the falls as well. Because of the small drainage, the falls likely will run dry by mid-August in most years, if not earlier, but may retain a trickle throughout much of the summer in cooler and wetter years.
- Trappers Peak Falls is the Unofficial name of this waterfall.
Trappers Peak Falls is found near the Thornton Creek Road in Ross Lake National Recreation Area. Take Highway 20 3 1/4 miles west from the Newhalem General Store to the Thornton Creek Road (signed for Thornton Lakes) and follow it for just over one-third of a mile to a signboard reading "Thornton Creek Road" and park. Walk up the road to the powerline clearing and follow and overgrown road to the right under the powerlines. The old road ends after about 750 feet, but a somewhat obscured path continues into the woods heading slightly left from the end of the road. At this point the falls are audible and the creek will be encountered after another 200 feet or so. Follow the creek upstream for another 100 feet to the bottom of the falls, which can't be seen clearly until standing directly underneath.
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