Crater Creek Falls

Crater Creek Falls is the second in a series of seemingly neverending cascades along Crater Creek's major canyon. The falls begin with a 9-foot plunge over a low ledge, then as the creek widens it hurtles over a 72 foot tall curtain style plunge into a much deeper section of the chasm. During the early summer months when Crater Creek is at its fullest, the falls are the most powerful along the creek, but by the autumn months the water spreads out into several tiny rivulets and creates a much more graceful series of lacy drips. 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. The scars on the landscape are not nearly as evident at this waterfall as they are further downstream. 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.