Nooksack Falls is an 88-foot segmented plunge waterfall on the North Fork Nooksack River in Whatcom County, Washington, a short drive off the Mount Baker Highway. A fenced overlook a few steps from the road looks straight into the gorge; at least 11 people have died here since the 1940s.
The falls
The river splits into two parallel segments and drops once through a narrow rock gorge. The average width is about 50 feet, and the average high flow is about 500 cubic feet per second from the glacier-fed river. A figure of 170 feet circulated for years in guidebooks; the World Waterfall Database confirms 88 feet with field surveys and lidar. A hydroelectric plant still operates at the falls.
Getting there
Drive east from Glacier on Highway 542 for 7.4 miles, turn right onto Forest Road 33 (Wells Creek Road) and continue 0.6 mile to parking before the river bridge. The path starts on the right and runs 0.1 mile round trip with 14 feet of gain. No pass or fee is required. The falls are in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. The road beyond the bridge toward Cougar Divide is closed because the roadway eroded at the crossing; the overlook is reached before it.
When to go
November through August is the strongest season.
On site
The viewing area sits on a rocky outcrop with a fence along the edge, and the Washington Trails Association rates it good for kids. There is no safe way to the bottom of the falls from the parking lot, and people aged 15 to 30, mostly teenagers, have died leaving the overlook for a better view. Stay behind the fence.
History and name
A Historic American Engineering Record entry dates construction of the Nooksack Falls power plant to 1906, with a turbine added in 1910 and dam works in 1931. The plant was built for mining, and in 1914 power lines were run to the Great Excelsior Mine about a mile away. The falls appear in the hunting scene of the film The Deer Hunter.
Nearby
Excelsior Falls is about 0.5 mile away, and Lower Wells Creek Falls about 0.8 mile. Deadhorse Falls is about 1.3 miles away.
Distances are straight-line.