Upper John Pierce Falls is a 157-foot waterfall on Horsetail Creek in Whatcom County, Washington, in the North Cascades region. It lies about 40.3 miles northeast of Darrington and roughly 64.8 miles east of Bellingham as the crow flies.
At 157 feet it is taller than the typical Washington waterfall of about 82 feet, ranking 269th of 941 with a recorded height. The tallest single drop is 117 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. Horsetail Creek carries 2 recorded waterfalls, and Upper John Pierce Falls is the tallest of them.
Whatcom County holds 348 recorded waterfalls, and several are close by. John Pierce Falls, a 66-foot tiered horsetail waterfall, is under a mile away. Cedar Hollow Falls, a 126-foot tiered plunge waterfall, is under a mile away. Strandberg Falls, a 117-foot horsetail waterfall, is about 1 miles away.
Upper John Pierce Falls is located at 48.7182° N, 121.0672° 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 creek name is confirmed against the federal Geographic Names Information System. 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.