Buster Brown Falls

RATING - 31.6

VR - 3.6 (Sm/M) HR - 6.0 SR - 10/20

TYPE OF APPROACH - Trail

DIFFICULTY - Medium

LOCATION - Lake Diablo Area

TYPE - Plunge

HEIGHT - 165'

WIDTH - 10'

DIRECTIONS - Drive east along Highway 20 through Newhalem and across the bridge over Lake Diablo. Turn left down the gated road signed for Ross Lake Resort and the North Cascades Institute Environmental Learning Center. Drive across the top of the dam and turn right. Continue less than a mile to the parking lot and find the Lake Diablo Trail heading into the woods. In almost exactly 1/2 mile, turn left onto a nice, wide trail and follow it another mile or so to its end. The falls drop into Sourdough Creek on the right side. To get a clear view you'll have to scramble around on the rocks and logs in the creek a little but nothing too tough.

Buster Brown Falls occurs where a small, mostly seasonal stream drops over a ledge and falls 165' before tumbling through a massive pile of avalanche debris and joining Sourdough Creek. When the creek is running high enough this can be a pretty nice waterfall. Later in the summer the falls are reduced to a trickle and probably dry out completely some years. On our trip in, a plethora of wildflowers lined the creek below the falls making for a very pretty scene. The trail to the falls is a great one for families, rising fairly gently along the way and passing through a beautiful forest with greenery everywhere. There are several places to stop and take a rest along the way should the need arise and a nice view of Lake Diablo and the surrounding mountains at the end of the trail.