Lower Quartz Canyon Falls

This waterfall can be seen adjacent to the North Cascades Highway one-quarter mile east of the Canyon Creek Trailhead, or 2.2 miles east of the eastern boundary of North Cascades National Park.Lower Quartz Canyon Falls is a small, easily missed series of waterfalls along an unnamed tributary to Granite Creek which can be seen adjacent to the North Cascades Highway just east of the boundary to North Cascades National Park. The falls drop in three steps down a narrow gully for a total of 59 feet, with individual steps of 17, 29, and 13 feet. The waterfall is visible from the North Cascades Highway if one knows exactly where to look, but because of the narrow confines of the gully the stream occupies, it is quite easy to miss when driving past - especially later in the year when the flow is lower. The stream producing this waterfall drains from a basin covering an area of just under one square mile, and maxing out at an elevation of just over 6,000 feet. The upper basin will receive heavy snow fall in the winter months, and as such in the spring and early summer the streamflow will swell to a modest volume. The north-facing slope of the drainage will help to moderate the melt off of the winter snow, but by mid to late summer expect the volume of this stream to be considerably reduced.This waterfall has no formal or historically known name. Because we have referred to the larger waterfall upstream along the same stream as Quartz Canyon Falls, we've opted to apply the name to this waterfall as well. In the fourth edition of Greg Plumb's "Waterfall Lover's Guide" book, the author refers to the falls as Cascade Crest Falls due to its proximity to the former Cascade Crest Trail which at one time paralleled Granite Creek just below this waterfall. As this trail has long since been destroyed by the construction of the North Cascades Highway, and since it's located nowhere near the actual Cascade Crest, we feel this name is not entirely appropriate for this waterfall.