Harley Falls
The Silver River cuts a deep gorge early on, way upstream near its Herman-Nestoria swampy headwaters. One of the creeks that gets impacted by this gorge is Harley Creek, a relatively short creek draining the eastern flank of Mount Curwood. To reach the bottom of the gorge Harley Creek has to drop almost 200 feet down a series of plunges, chutes, and cascades that collectively form Harley Falls.
The lowermost falls is a group of cascades over boulders and solid rock that split and reform the creek multiple times. A short distance upstream is one of the more impressive drops, a wide slide down flat rock that creates a solid curtain of whitewater in the spring. The middle falls is a shorter sideways chute along a jagged, narrow chute surrounded by moss. Further up is another group of cascades around and over boulders and the upper falls is a set of stairs in a sudden box canyon. Even more, smaller drops lie further upstream as well.
Directions
Take Lahti Road out of Herman as it turns into Summit. Continue as it narrows and becomes a two-track at Haikkinen Road. Turn left at a small gravel pit and follow this track north as long as possible. If the road becomes impassable park on the side and continue on foot.
This unnamed track eventually runs straight into Silver River. Follow the river upstream for a quarter mile, crossing over to the east bank when possible. After the quarter mile there are two creeks that head up the river bank, one that is much larger than the second. Follow the larger one, which is Harley Creek, upstream. The falls should all be with a half mile or so of Silver River.
Upper Silver Falls is upstream on Silver River from here. If you have a GPS you can chart a nice circle route, heading from the uppermost waterfall on Harley Creek straight over to the falls on Silver River, then following the river upstream past more waterfalls back to Summit Road. If you don’t you can still make a circle, backtracking to Silver River and sticking to the river, although the banks can get quite overgrown in the summer and you’ll be adding some distance to the hike.
Photographs
Visits
Seen in April and July.
- running full
Harley was running full over the smooth boulders and drops when I bumped into it. This was good news. While the lower drops were full and rounded, it was the second drop that really impressed me. A slated rock wall, some six feet wide and high, was completely covered in frothy whitewater. Last year it had been mostly covered in dripping moss with the barest flow down the left side. Today it roared.
- low water, and a storm coming in
Thunder was starting to close on me by the time I reached the first drop, a splitting cascade over large, mossy boulders. A few dozen yards away was a wide, smooth slide that would be very neat if there was more water flowing in the creek; a dribble of white slid down the far left side, a faint reminder that this was an actual waterfall, but otherwise the rock was just damp and mossy. One nice surprise that the creek ran through was a box canyon, maybe six feet wide and less high, the pool inside deep and murky, and the dark woods combined with the enclosed little canyon made for a really spooky spot that was well worth the tough hike.
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