Fantastic Falls

Fantastic Falls is located on private property and is closed to all public access. Please respect the rights of the land owners and do not attempt to visit the falls.Fantastic Falls is a small waterfall along the North Fork Snoqualmie River, situated deep within a stretch of the river known as Ernie's Canyon, where it runs right along the base of the north end of the Mount Si massif. The falls only stand 16 feet tall, but pack a lot of power as the river - which is rather sizeable at this point - funnels down to about 25 feet in width (at most) and thunders into a small churning basin at the head of a short, sheer-walled trough section of the canyon. The current produced by the falls is strong enough that the adjacent alcove is heavily undercut and displays a positively evil looking churning current during the runoff season. Because the North Fork at this point has a considerable drainage area, Fantastic Falls will remain quite consistent throughout the year. Peak flow typically occurs in May, and then is on average reduced tenfold by August, but even with such a reduction in volume, there is still ample flow to the river to allow the falls to appear interesting. Fantastic Falls is located on privately owned land (which is not part of the Snoqualmie Tree Farm), and due to an escalating number of incidents recently, including vandalism, illegal camping, tree cutting, and the unfortunate drowning of a local teen in 2016, the landowners have asked us to clarify that this waterfall is closed to all public access. Information indicating otherwise in older guidebooks such as Harvey Manning's epitomal Footsore series, as well as the Greentrails Maps which mark the falls by name, should be considered out of date and inaccurate at this point. Please respect the rights of the owners and do not attempt to visit.Though an exact date for when it was "adopted" is not known, the name Fantastic Falls seems to have been coined by local hiker legend and guidebook author Harvey Manning. The name has been in use for at least 40 years in his various guidebooks, and has been accepted enough to appear on a few maps of the area as well.