Falls Creek Falls

Falls Creek Falls is a waterfall of modest height but exceptionally unique form found near the mouth of its namesake stream as it enters the flood plain of the Sauk River near the town of Darrington. The falls drop 54 feet as the creek plunges out of a short narrow canyon into a huge swirling blue cauldron-like pool. The cliff which forms the falls has been eroded and scoured in an incredibly unique way - the falls drop at perhaps a 50-degree angle perpendicular to the direction of flow, and in doing so the water has carved a chimney-like chute which has punched itself all the way down the cliff face at about a 75-degree pitch. The chimney has breached into the huge basin below, but the force of the stream has resulted in the cliff being undercut underwater, so instead of the stream spilling out of the breach on the surface, most of the water is powered beneath the undercut cliff under the surface, and then bubbles up from under the cliff of the adjacent wall. This in turn creates a perpetual swirling motion in the pool at the base of the falls, which has trapped several large logs against the opposite cliff.
The drainage basin of Falls Creek covers an area of about 9.8 square miles and includes two small lakes but no permanent snow or ice, and extends up to elevations of between 5200 and 5400 feet at most of its perimeter. The size of the drainage ensures a healthy flow of water year round, but because this area of the Cascades is among the wettest in the state, the volume of water found in the creek is typically significant for most of the year, and can swell to impressive levels in the winter and early spring months (the falls may not be accessible at peak flow however, because multiple stream fords are necessary to reach the falls). It's possible, likely even, that during periods of peak flow (as well as during floods) the creek will swell to large enough volume to begin to pour out of the chimney and drop directly into the pool below the falls, but again it may not be possible to access the falls when this occurs.