fourpointedstar

This series of falls reflected an incredible decrease in elevation. This is the last segment of large falls, but there is significant series of rapids and cascades even further down the stream and the entire area is filled with incredible sights and scenes.

As we drove out of the woods, I realized that we could park alongside the road and see a part of the falls. Then once we walked to the bridge over the stream, you could see a walkway under the bridge, so of course, I climbed down to the walkway to capture this photo!

Before our October 2024 trip to Seattle, I bought a “Washington Waterfalls” book and picked out a couple of sets of easy hikes. Our first waterfall adventure was to visit a few that were along Hwy. 2, and at our first stop, the parking lot was closed. After looking at the map, I realized that there may be a different way to see the falls. Technically I was right…technically. As we drove up the dirt road, it got increasingly steep and less likely to lead to an accessible path.

We parked precariously, and I clambered down the hill to see if I could get a photo. The water was a crisp bluish-green, and since it was raining that morning, I was not comfortable with crawling all over the rocks like normal, but even from my vantage point, the scene was incredible.

Just fair warning, if it has rained recently, and you decide to walk downstream at Matthiessen, your feet will get muddy or you’ll walk in the streamed itself. And maybe both…

My daughter and I visited Matthiessen back in 2018, and we walked upstream that time. So this time, we visited the main waterfall area; then we walked downstream this time – all the way to the Vermilion River. The Devil’s Paintbox is right by the main stairs down to see the main waterfall area, and honestly, it’s not that exciting except for the copper colored stream that was very slowly flowing out of the alcove.

Not only did we find a waterfall in Dellwood Park along Fraction Run Creek, we found two! This waterfall is probably widely known – it’s right on the frisbee golf path; the other waterfall is a little harder to get to. There are likely more drops as well, but they would only be accessible by walking through the stream.

I’ve written a few times about “what is a waterfall”, so I would ask – Is this 1 cascade or 30+ individual falls? 🙂

While I was visiting Sagawau in Cook County, one of the park employees mentioned that there may be a waterfall in Dellwood Park in Lockport.  Since I have a client in Lockport, I already knew that there was a stream in a valley in Dellwood Park, and I was disappointed that it hadn’t occurred to me that there was likely to be a waterfall in that valley.  So, the next available weekend, my oldest daughter and I went on a hike to see if we could find a waterfall along Fraction Run Creek…