Bridal Veil Falls is a 180-foot tiered horsetail waterfall on Hearty Creek in Whatcom County, Washington, a short, rough scramble from the South Fork Nooksack River in the Twin Sisters area. It is one of eleven falls along Hearty Creek, and is not to be confused with Bridal Veil Falls near Index.
The falls
The falls features an upper drop of 151 feet into a grotto partly hidden behind a bedrock wall, then a 29-foot drop after a bend in the creek; two small cascades below are not counted. Hearty Creek drains Heart Lake rather than a glacier, and the falls run all year, spreading into a spray of droplets that gives them their name.
Getting there
The route follows Baker Lake Road to Forest Road 12, signed for Schriebers Meadows and the South Fork Nooksack; turn left at a fork after about 6 miles, right at the seasonal gate several miles on, then follow Forest Road 1260 to its end about a mile later. From there, cross the bridge over the South Fork, walk about a fifth of a mile north to Hearty Creek and follow a rough path upstream on a moderate bushwhack.
When to go
May through August brings the best flow, but the wildlife gate on Forest Road 12 is closed from November 1 through June 30, and the road reopens July 1.
On site
Ferns and flowers grow around the falls, and there is a campsite on the gravel bar near the creek.
History and name
Journals of a June 1884 exploration led by L. L. Bales and M. Denehie already mention the falls by name, noting them as prominently visible from the gravel bars; who first named them is uncertain.
Nearby
Hearty Creek holds a string of falls: Agape Falls is about 0.6 mile away, Lower Hearty Falls about 0.7 mile and Infatuation Falls about 0.9 mile.
Distances are straight-line.