Source Lake Falls

The South Fork of the Snoqualmie River officially starts at Source Lake in the basin just north of the Alpental Ski Area at Snoqualmie Pass. Though diminutive in size its outflow is fed by several rocky alpine basins higher up on the ridgeline below Bryant and Chair Peaks which punctuate the skyline in the Alpental area. As the fledgling river meanders out of the lake and through sub-alpine huckleberry meadows, it encounters a very nondescript headwall and inconspicuously plunges over a three-stage waterfall which were it situated along the nearby Snow Lake Trail would be one of the marquis destinations for hikers in the immediate Snoqualmie Pass area. The falls consist of three distinct sections - the upper tier sees the South Fork plunging about 35 feet in a sheer leap, then slamming onto a ledge and veiling down another 25 feet into a small pool. Immediately adjacent is an unnamed tributary stream which cascades about 50-feet down in dozens of rivulets at a perpendicular angle to the falls on the river itself. With the combined waters, the river then flumes through a shallow gorge, cascading about 15-feet, then after a brief section of relatively level flow, slides another 40 feet over the lower tier, starting out as a narrow slide then suddenly expanding to well over four times its initial width by the time it enters the pool at its base. During the snow melt season the falls flow rather powerfully, typically peaking in volume in June and early July. However, given the snow fall which accumulates in the valley the falls are typically not going to be easy to access until early July in most years. By August expect the volume of the river to drop considerably, and likely reduce to a trickle by late September.Despite being located in such a close proximity to one of the most popular recreation areas in the state, we have seen very little documentation of this waterfall, and nothing to suggest it was ever given an official or even broadly accepted colloquial title. We have seen one unofficial reference which dubbed the upper tier Duet Falls, and the lower tier Dipper Falls, but as our survey concluded that it should be considered one set of falls, neither of these names would be quite as appropriate collectively.