Swamp Creek Falls

Located near Mount Baker, off Highway 542. Head east on Highway 542 from the town of Glacier for about 13 miles to the WSDOT maintenance facility at Shuksan. Immediately beyond turn left onto Swamp Creek Road, which should be signed for Yellow Aster Butte and Twin Lakes. Just under 4 1/2 miles from 542 the Yellow Aster Butte trailhead is encountered, and just beyond a sign will indicate the road is not maintained any further. The bottom of the falls are found about 8/10ths of a mile further up the road, which gets very rough, features several deep water bars and is steep in places. Four wheel drive and high clearance is recommended beyond the Yellow Aster Butte trailhead, but lower clearance vehicles can make it if taken very slowly.Swamp Creek is a tributary of the North Fork Nooksack River which drains from Winchester and Goat Mountains in the Mount Baker Wilderness. While the majority of the creek's headwaters originate in the glacier on the north side of Goat Mountain, a substantial stream drains out of Twin Lakes at Skagway Pass. Almost immediately upon exiting the lakes the creek skips over 650 feet down the side of the valley in a very significant waterfall. Unfortunately due to the non-vertical shape of the falls, the tall trees lining the creek and the contorted orientation of the canyon in which the falls are situated, only a small portion of the falls can actually be seen. Viewed from the base, Swamp Creek spills out of a narrow gorge flanked with imposing cliffs, dropping about 100 feet in two steps. Aerial photographs available in various places online show two much taller drops just upstream, but the shape of the gorge prevents any views from below. Its very likely that bushwhacking across the valley would reveal views of the entire falls, however the brush is extremely thick in this area and the experience would hardly be pleasant.