Anderson Creek Falls

Anderson Creek Falls is one of a number of hidden waterfalls found in the Taylor River drainage outside of North Bend. The falls are made up of a series of cascades and slides which drops several hundred feet down long slabs of granite bedrock. The five major sections of the falls which we were able to properly survey total 367 feet in height, extending along a run of stream of about 780 linear feet. The two largest sections of the falls are found near the top of the formation, dropping 109, and 115 feet respectively, with some minor cascades found between. The three lower drops, which can be viewed collectively from the base of the falls, then drop 16, 62, and 65 feet respectively. The upper sections of the falls must be viewed individually due to the twisting nature of the creek and the thick encroaching forest on either side of the creek around the falls. Because of the more gradual overall pitch of the falls, all sections of the falls suffer from significant foreshortening when viewed from below, and thus pictures do not portray the true size of the formation well. Anderson Creek is a low volume stream draining from a small lake on the ridge separating the Taylor River from the Lennox Creek drainage in the northwestern part of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. The basin upstream of the falls encompasses an area of only about one-third of a square mile, but also reaching as high up as 5300 feet in elevation. Because of the small drainage area, the stream becomes substantially reduced in volume in the summer, very possibly drying out entirely in the later summer months. The high elevations at the top of the drainage however capture heavy winter snow pack, and the creek flows with considerable volume, despite its small basin, over the winter months and through to the beginning of summer.