Hemlock Creek Falls

While Big Creek Canyon and its series of impressive waterfalls are clearly the water features of note seen in the immediate area, those who venture to the canyon-rim viewpoint overlooking the lower Lewis River Canyon will be treated to another sizable, albeit overlooked waterfall. Hemlock Creek, small enough that it isn't even mapped, but large enough that the Forest Service has named it, jumps out of the thick woods, and plunges over 200 feet down the rim of the canyon. The small watershed limits the impressiveness of the falls, which usually run dry or near to dry late in the summer, but a week or two of constant precipitation will bring it back to life in spectacular fashion. The picture above was taken in late September, after nearly 3 weeks of almost constant rain, and I'd never seen the falls running higher. During the winter of 2012-2013 a huge wind storm toppled numerous trees in the area and destroyed the viewpoint for nearby Big Creek Falls. The Forest Service has since closed the Big Creek Falls trail and its parking lot indefinitely after assessing the danger of additional falling trees to be too high. As the falls are a popular attraction, it is assumed they will be reopened at some point in the future.