Purvis Falls

RATING - 48.0

Purvis Creek begins in little Purvis Lake and drops over a very impressive waterfall as it encounters the Miller River Valley. The falls begin with a series of sliding, horsetailing drops that stand around 300' tall before plunging about 96' in a wide wall of waterfall at the bottom. Below this the creek continues to drop for another 500' or so, some of it bedrock based, some of it not. I elected not to include any of this in the height of the waterfall because it was so difficult to tell what was legitimate waterfall and what was not. Later in the summer, Purvis Creek gets pretty small but it runs year round. The best time to visit is May or June when the volume is at its highest. The falls can also be seen across the valley from near Great Falls (see Additional Pictures on the right), but the view from that far away is uninspiring to say the least.

OTHER PICTURES

VR - 4.0 (Med/Small)

HR - 8.0

SR - 16/20

TYPE OF APPROACH - Bushwhack

DIFFICULTY - Fairly Difficult

LOCATION - Miller River Road

TYPE - Horsetail into Plunge

HEIGHT - 408' *

WIDTH - 10'

DIRECTIONS - Turn onto Miller River Road near the town of Skykomish. Follow the road for several miles, crossing the West Fork and then the East Fork of the river on bridges along the way. A couple miles after the bridge over the East Fork, you will drive through Purvis Creek (literally through the creek). Find a place to park and head into the woods on the right side of the creek. It's a very steep climb, rising about 500' in elevation in less than 1/4 of a mile. Eventually you'll see the falls through the trees. You can reach the base by CAREFULLY scrambling down the steep slope.