Furland Falls

RATING - 38.0

VR - 4.0 (Sm/M) HR - 7.0 SR - 10/20

TYPE OF APPROACH - Bushwhack

DIFFICULTY - Very Difficult

LOCATION - Whitehorse Mountain

TYPE - Tiered

HEIGHT - 295'

WIDTH - 40'

GPS - N48 14.574 W121 42.403

ELEVATION - 1439'

DIRECTIONS - No directions available. Dangerous access.

Furland Falls is, thus far, the most impressive waterfall in the Darrington area. The falls are located in a very deep, rugged canyon on the north side of Whitehorse Mountain. They begin with 125' worth of cascades that include a cool roostertail and a steep, 50' tall fan shaped drop at the bottom. Below this, the creek turns a corner and horsetails 50', taking a sharp right hand turn at the bottom. The creek then drops over its most impressive tier, falling 70' in a deeply incised cliff and into a pool. The falls then tumble 5' out of the pool where the creek splits into three around two very large boulders. The fourth tier is a 45' tall segmented cascade through and around these boulders and the falls finally finish with an 8' sliding drop into another pretty pool.

None of the tiers can be seen in conjunction with each other, which is disappointing, but the overall falls is still extremely impressive. Getting to the falls is difficult enough in itself and getting views of many of the tiers is extremely tough. To see into the narrow chasm in which the third tier drops, you must scramble down a near vertical hillside onto the boulder in front of the falls. Getting views of the tiers above that involves scrambling up a 45-60 degree slope alongside the creek. The slope is soft dirt with plenty of ferns to hang onto, so it's relatively safe (as far as 200' tall 60 degree slopes go), but it's very difficult.