Greider Creek Falls

Greider Creek produces a very impressive waterfall a short distance below its exit of Little Greider Lake, dropping into an impressively rugged canyon. There is no trail-based access to the falls and though scrambling from the Greider Lakes Trail to the top of the falls is possible, it yields no views aside from fleeting through-the-bushes vistas over the lip. We attempted to survey this waterfall in May 2012 and found it to be exceptionally difficult to access thanks to thick brush and treacherous terrain. We did manage to attain a rough measurement of the falls looking over the top - somewhere in the neighborhood of 335 feet, which would show the Mount Stickney quadrangle to be grossly inaccurate in regard to the course of the creek. It is likely the safest method to reach this waterfall will involve scrambling directly up the creekbed, however as the volume of Greider Creek can be significant during the spring and early summer, this should not be attempted until water levels have subsided. The Washington Department of Natural Resources has indicated that the South Shore Road along Spada Lake will eventually be decommissioned at the South Shore Recreation site (the road has already been closed 2 miles prior to the Greider Lakes Trailhead). When this happens this will add an additional 2 miles to the hike each way, which given the difficulty involved with reaching this waterfall, may put this one out of reach for many day hikers.