DOCK BUTTE FALLS

VR - 3.6 (Med/Sm)               HR - 5                  SR - 14/20

TYPE OF APPROACH - Bushwhack

DIFFICULTY - Very Difficult

LOCATION - Baker Lake Road

TYPE - Tiered

HEIGHT - 120'

WIDTH - 10'

GPS - N48 38.147  W121 46.204

ELEVATION - 1750'

This creek begins its life near Dock Butte.  About halfway to its convergence with Bear Creek it runs through a very impressive canyon.  As it enters the canyon it drops over this cool and impressive waterfall.  The falls begin with a 14' tall fan-shaped drop (it looked a lot taller than that so I'll have to re-measure if I go back).  The creek then slides through a trough and launches outward in a 36' tall plunging drop similar in appearance to Ponytail Falls in the Columbia River Gorge.  The falls continue with sliding drops of 18', 30', and 20' before finally flattening out.  I had seen no documentation of this waterfall prior to my visit, but there were pink ribbons all over the area including in the bowl at the base of the falls so somebody knows about it.  The creek was absolutely raging on my first visit and it made access and photography difficult.  At the bottom of the 30' slide the creek was slamming into a rock or log (so much water I couldn't see what it was hitting) and exploding upward.  The explosion would go over 20' tall at times and reminded me of the ocean surf crashing into a rocky shore.  Pretty cool.  I suspect at normal flow the waterfall is much easier to explore around and take pictures of.

Below the falls the creek continues to run through a series of bedrock slides and cascades all the way to Middle Dock Butte Falls.  In fact, I believe the entire run through the canyon may be bedrock based so if someone wanted to call it one long waterfall I would have a hard time arguing with them.  About halfway between the two waterfalls a tributary creek drops over a really pretty, 120' tall horsetail.  I can't confirm whether this is just an ephemeral stream or runs year round so I will have to investigate further in the future to find out for sure.  I couldn't get a clear enough view of this tributary waterfall for pictures but it was really pretty.

There is a second overgrown road that crosses (or used to cross) the creek about 800' downstream from the lower falls so one could make a loop trip out of the canyon and avoid having to climb back up the steep hills.  This will be my route of choice when I return to the area.  This lower road is pretty messy but it's better than having to climb back up 400' of super steep hills.

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