Fantastic Falls is a 16-foot plunging punchbowl waterfall on the North Fork Snoqualmie River in King County, Washington, about 3.9 miles northeast of North Bend. It sits on private land and is closed to all public access.
The falls
The river funnels to about 25 feet wide in a small gorge near Mount Si, then drops 16 feet in a single vertical plunge into a basin below an undercut alcove. The fall averages about 20 feet wide and reaches 35 feet at high water.
Getting there
There is no public access. The falls sit on privately owned land that is not part of the Snoqualmie Tree Farm, and the owners have closed it to all visitors after vandalism, illegal camping, tree cutting and a drowning. Older guidebooks and maps still show outdated access information.
When to go
The river runs all year, with an estimated average flow of about 875 cubic feet per second during high-water months and about 350 during the low, peaking around May and dropping to roughly a tenth of that volume by August.
On site
The basin below the plunge has strong recirculating currents, and a local teenager drowned there in 2016.
History and name
The name is informal and was used by hiking author Harvey Manning in guidebooks from at least the late 1970s.
Nearby
Crater Creek Falls is about 0.8 mile away, and Rachor Falls and Old Spur Falls, both on Black Creek, are each about 1.1 miles away.
Distances are straight-line.