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Rocky Brook Falls might have been Julie's favorite waterfall on the Olympic Peninsula.
In addition to exceeding her expectations of what she thought was a relatively obscure and unknown waterfall (though we did see four other people when we were on our way back to our car), it was also very tall (possibly around 150ft) while fanning out in rivulets on its descent all while framed by a rock tower above its brink. On top of that, the walk to the falls was quite short and easy with the exception of the jumble of rocks at its base for a better view. The walk was easy enough that we were able to bring our baby here (though we didn't do any rock scrambling with her).
The short walk begins from a humble unsigned pullout just west of the small Rocky Creek Bridge. There's a small hydroelectric building and some signs giving the appearance that it's forbidden private property, but the trail continues to the right of the building and follows the brook all the way to the rocky base of the falls in about five minutes.
Even though it requires a little bit of rock scrambling at the base of the falls to get the best views, there are signs posted indicating that stream levels can dramatically increase without warning. The two takeaways I get from this sign are that:
You don't want to linger for too long in the stream (let alone swim at the plunge pool at its base)
This stream may have a hydro dam further upstream suggesting it's regulated (though this is just a hunch and needs to be verified)
This happened to be the lone waterfall we visited while in the Dosewallips State Park because the Dosewallips Road (unpaved with potholes a couple miles west of Rocky Brook Falls) leading to Dosewallips Falls further to the west was washed out. I have no idea if they're re-opening the road or if it's left in disrepair. Otherwise, there would've been another waterfall entry on this website from this area.
Directions: Dosewallips State Park is on the east side of the Olympic Peninsula roughly 21 miles south of the Hwy 104/US101 junction (Hwy 104 is notable because it's one of the main highways we took to get to and from the Bainbridge Island/Seattle ferry on this side of Puget Sound).
Once on the small Dosewallips road, we followed it west roughly 3 miles where there's a small, unassuming pullout on the west side of the small Rocky Brook Bridge. As mentioned earlier, there's a hydro building and some signage about safety to help you identify this unsigned trailhead.
My cousins and I lived on State Hwy. 216, just a mile or so east of the park entrance in 1978 and 1979. We frequently went to the falls during the hot summer...[more]
Northwest Waterfall Survey
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Two Spectacular Falls
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Next time you are in Oregon and have a day to devote to Eagle Creek, I would highly recommend making the trek to Tunnel Falls...[more]
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Picture of Loowit Falls, Mt St. Helens, Washington...[more]