Crater Creek Cascades

Situated between two more prominent waterfalls along Crater Creek lies this informally named set of cascades, which consist of a series of slides and shallow punchbowls that drop about 50 feet over a run of about 150 feet, followed by a 17 foot twisty horsetail fall situated about 100 feet upstream from the top of Lower Crater Creek Falls. The bedrock slides of the upper part of the cascades are very interesting but unfortunately cannot be approached closely due to the precipitous nature of the canyon. Visitors to this waterfall may notice the heavily scoured streambed above and below the falls. This is the remaining evidence of a substantial flood which occured when a large chunk of an unnamed glacier calved into Moraine Lake on the east face of Broken Top and sent a large wave over the natural dam, causing it to breach. The lake partially drained, lowering its level by 14 feet and sending 50 million gallons of water down the Crater Creek drainage, scouring out everything in its path. Crater Creek is partially diverted into the Crater Creek ditch about a mile upstream of the falls. Late in the summer months the volume of water actually reaching this waterfall can be greatly reduced due to this diversion, but the falls should rarely run dry.