Lily Creek Falls
   Pierce County, Washington, United States

Lily Creek Falls is a big tease. It has the potential to be the best lowland waterfall in the Puget Sound region - including the eastern slopes of the Olympics - but up-close access to the falls is so limited that there is really no easy way to truly appreciate the falls. The falls occur where Lily Creek spills into the Carbon River Gorge, opposite the town of Carbonado. The problem is, the rim of the gorge which faces the falls is pockmarked with private land, so access to either viewpoints or scramble routes to the canyon floor are very limited. There was a once-public road which leads almost to the foot of the falls, which is now in private ownership, and the only publicly accessible method of descending to the floor of the canyon results in getting cliffed out well upstream of the falls. So, unfortunately, the only viable way to view the falls is from the side of the road, through the distant trees at a distance of approximately ½ a mile.

HISTORY AND NAMES

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• Lily Creek Falls is the Historical name of this waterfall

Location and directions

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From Highway 410 in Buckley, head east on Highway 165 for 7 miles to Carbonado and turn right where the sign indicates the town. Follow the main street through town, following the sharp turn at the edge of the canyon. Make a left onto Tubbs Road at the sewage treatment facility and follow this road for about ½ mile to a clearing next to an intimidating gate on the right. The falls can be seen distantly across the canyon from here. Stay on the road, the owner of the adjacent land is purported to not be friendly.

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Lily Creek Falls is shown in the center. Additional nearby waterfalls (if any) can be found in the list below.

Additional Nearby Waterfalls

Name of Waterfall	Distance
Middle Voight Creek Falls	2.5 mi / 4 km
Upper Voight Creek Falls	2.81 mi / 4.5 km
Patterson Falls	2.88 mi / 4.6 km
Voight Creek Falls	2.96 mi / 4.73 km
Or Find More Nearby Waterfalls within:
Select One 1 Mile (1.6 km) 5 Miles (8 km) 10 Miles (16 km) 20 Miles (32 km) 50 Miles (80km)

Photography tips

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If you want to shoot this one - and I don't recommend you do unless a clean point of access to the old railroad grade at the bottom of the canyon can be found - you'll need a powerful telephoto and a day when there is virtually no haze in the air.

Find More media

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Search for pictures of Lily Creek Falls on: Flickr Pbase Smugmug Webshots Google Images Photobucket

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User comments

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