Ursa Falls

RATING - 56.0

Bear Creek is a large volume creek that drains the basin between Bear Mountain and Spire Mountain into the North Fork of the Skykomish River. The creek contains at least five waterfalls along its descent and they are all amazingly beautiful.

Ursa Falls is the highlight of the creek and immediately jumped to near the top of my list of personal favorite waterfalls. The falls consist of three main drops: a 33' plunge into a stunning pool of water, 25' worth of slides and cascades, and a 74' sheer plunge into a massive amphitheater. The cliff on the right side of the falls towers over 200' in height. Abundant moss, ferns, and various other greenery line the cliff walls on both sides and the canyon is deep and very dark. The plunge pool at the bottom of the falls is another perfect example of the stunning color of the water in Bear Creek. I visited the falls on a bright, sunny day, less than ideal for photography, but still came away with some picture images. On a nice overcast day, one could spend hours at the bottom of the canyon taking pictures. While Ursa Falls is difficult to get to, this is one of the better waterfalls in the region so get there if you can. Ursa is Latin for "bear".

OTHER PICTURES

Cell phone pic of the uppermost tier of Ursa Falls

VR - 6.0 (Medium)

HR - 6.0

SR - 20/20

TYPE OF APPROACH - Bushwhack

DIFFICULTY - Difficult

LOCATION - Index-Galena Road

TYPE - Tiered

HEIGHT - 132' *

WIDTH - 10'

DIRECTIONS - Beginning at Karhut Falls, Ursa Falls is around 2/3 of a mile upstream. You basically have two options. You can either follow along the top of the canyon, which is substantially easier, but almost impossible to get a clear view or you can simply rockhop upstream to the base. It's not horribly difficult, but you'll have to cross the creek multiple times along the way. Be extremely careful around the top of the canyon! It's a long, steep drop and a fall would certainly kill you.