Coldwater Falls

The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens caused all sorts of drainage problems in the Toutle River basin. Part of the landslide which occured during the eruption blocked the natural path of Coldwater Creek, resulting in a large lake being impounded behind a natural dam. As the area recovered and measures were taken to ensure there would be no cataclysmic flooding as a result of instability in any of the new water features, the Army Corp of Engineers had to basically dig an outlet channel for Coldwater Creek to prevent the valley from filling up behind the unstable topsoils and detritus from the landslide. In this regard, Coldwater Falls could be considered a man made waterfall. I don't believe the cliffs to be deliberately blasted, but it appears that the creek has scoured the soil away for the last 20+ years and revealed the pre-existing bedrock where the falls now occur, dropping 74 feet in three steps. Coupled with Coldwater Lake, a tunnel was built to drain Spirit Lake into Coldwater Creek to prevent it from growing too large and overtopping the debris plain below St Helens. This results in Coldwater Creek forming approximately half of the volume of the Toutle River at this point and as such the falls flow with vigor all year long.