Upper Swayel Falls

RATING - 13.6

VR - 3.6 (Sm/M) HR - 1.0 SR - 10/20

TYPE OF APPROACH - Bushwhack

DIFFICULTY - Fairly Easy

LOCATION - Newhalem Area

TYPE - Cascades

HEIGHT - 24'

WIDTH - 15'

DIRECTIONS - Drive east along Highway 20 and turn left onto Thornton Creek Road about 3 miles before reaching Newhalem. About 1/2 a mile before the trailhead you will cross over Sky Creek and a small waterfall on the left. Park at a pullout just past the creek and walk back down the road a few hundred feet. Hop into the woods and scramble over to the creek.

This waterfall is located on Sky Creek just downstream from the road to the Thornton Lakes Trailhead. The area around the falls is covered with moss and is a really pretty area. If you make it down to the base of this one, be sure to continue on to Swayel Falls downstream as it is a much more worthy waterfall. "Swayel" (pronounced sway-yell) is a Nooksack word meaning "sky". While the Nooksack Indians did not live in this area, the more appropriate native word is "sccmasqt". That word is pretty much impossible to pronounce and is ugly sounding when you do so I fudged the local Native tribes a bit to find a better sounding name.