Big Spring Creek Falls-1

One level of the tiered falls on Big Spring Creek in the Giffor Pinchot NF (Philip A. Knouf)

One level of the tiered falls on Big Spring Creek in the Giffor Pinchot NF (Philip A. Knouf)

The Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington State contains many waterfalls that are a bit off of the beaten path and that usually are not very well know.  This waterfall, Big Spring Creek Falls, is just off of FR 23 before the junction with FR 90.  At the junction FR23 goes right up to Tahklahk Lake and beyond next to the Mt Adams Wilderness. Big Spring Creek Falls consists of three or more 10 foot tiers of falls along Big Spring Creek.  This image is of the middle tier of the falls.  I have been told that there is an upper section to the falls farther up the trail.  I will attempt to find and photograph that falls the next time I am there.  I photographed Big Spring Creek Falls on June 26 of 2012 while on a scouting trip to check out the progress of the spring snow melt farther up FR 23 towards Tahklahk Lake.  Unfortunately, I was stopped by snow only a couple of miles farther up the road.  Spring can come late above 3,000 feet in the Pacific Northwest.  It is the opportunity to go from the Summer season down along the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic area to early Spring higher up in the mountains that makes photographing here so interesting and challenging.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.