Crater Creek Falls is a 600-foot waterfall on Crater Creek in King County, Washington, in the North Cascades region. It lies about 3.5 miles northeast of North Bend and roughly 18.2 miles southeast of Sammamish as the crow flies.
At 600 feet it stands in the tallest quarter of Washington’s 941 waterfalls with a recorded height, ranking 54th; the typical Washington waterfall is about 82 feet. The tallest single drop is 400 feet. By form it is a tiered waterfall, falling in several distinct steps one after another, combined with a horsetail character. It falls in 2 drops.
The North Cascades are a wilderness of jagged peaks, glaciers and deep, forested valleys of western hemlock, silver fir and Douglas fir, with some of the heaviest snowfall in the country. Meltwater from glaciers and snowfields pours down thousands of feet of cliffs in countless cascades and horsetail falls. Crater Creek carries 9 recorded waterfalls, and Crater Creek Falls is the tallest of them.
King County holds 236 recorded waterfalls, and several are close by. Fantastic Falls, a 16-foot plunge punchbowl waterfall, is under a mile away. Rachor Falls, a 309-foot tiered horsetail waterfall, is about 1.4 miles away. Old Spur Falls, a 96-foot tiered plunge waterfall, is about 1.4 miles away.
Crater Creek Falls is located at 47.5278° N, 121.7288° W. The listing is based on the World Waterfall Database, one of the sources compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey in its inventory of waterfalls and rapids of the conterminous United States. The exact position has not yet been verified on aerial imagery, so treat the map pin as approximate. Details on trails, parking and access have not been documented for this waterfall yet.