Bar Divide Falls

RATING - 54.0

VR - 6.0 (Med) HR - 6.0 SR - 18/20

TYPE OF APPROACH - Bushwhack

DIFFICULTY - Extremely Difficult

LOCATION - Wells Creek Area

TYPE - Tiered

HEIGHT - 165'

WIDTH - 10'

GPS - N48 49.661 W121 47.203

ELEVATION - 4112'

DIRECTIONS - No directions provided. Dangerous approach.

Bar Divide Falls quickly became one of my favorite waterfalls after seeing it in person. The creek drops a total of 165' in a beautiful, rugged canyon. The falls begin with a series of cascades. The creek then slides down a concave trough and then launches itself outward, plunging in a 117' tall main tier. The area is surrounded by a variety of greenery, providing a rather shocking contrast to the scene just a short distance upstream. There are two options for viewing the falls from up close, both of which are fairly dangerous. The safer of the two is from the west side of the creek atop a large cliff. From this side, only part of the main drop can be seen. From the east side, it is possible to see the entire waterfall (see photo on the left), but it requires scrambling across a tiny ledge, no more than 2' wide in places. If you can get there, you'll see a sight less than a handful of people have ever seen (maybe only one?).

The waterfall can also be seen from across the valley on the Cougar Divide Trail but you have to know right where to look in order to see it.