Just south of the small hamlet of Metaline, Washington I found the sign for Sweet Creek rest stop, one more place to check out. This  is more than just a rest stop, it’s really a trail head.  After checking out the trail-side map of the area it appeared that there were three trails, a lower, middle, and upper that could be connected if the creek could be crossed.

     We walked past the bathrooms and picked up the path for the lower trail as it crossed the creek immediately on a sturdy bridge. Once across the bridge the well traveled path continued upstream. The sound of a mountain stream had stolen my heart again, always in the background it was a welcome reprieve. We didn’t have to travel too far to find the lower falls, a wide body of water maybe 20 feet tall. We paused for a moment to take in the view and the splendid scenery. I thought we could cross the creek, so we went for it, it was a trying process but in the end we were all across with dry feet. Once across the creek we had to make a short scramble up a steep hillside to regain the middle trail. Back on a manageable foot path we continued uphill, past the lower falls, to an upper falls. This part of the trail was kind of treacherous, especially for Kylie who is only 5, I made sure to hold her hand along the way. I would hate to take a bad fall here, one slip could send you head first into a pile of rocks far below in a heartbeat. Once past the exposed section of trail we were treated to another grotto complete with another waterfall, plunge pool, and rocky runout. The canyon was tight here, dark walls covered in mosses and tall evergreens were all around. We took it all in, you have to, these are the moments worth living for. Eventually we decided to leave and headed out on the middle trail until we reached another junction, this time with upper trail near a retaining wall and awesome vantage point of the upper and lower falls combined.

     After taking in the view we decided to take the side trip to check out the upper trail, we gained some elevation and climbed some steps to an elevated bridge to more steep trail that eventually topped out at the top of the upper falls and canyon. I climbed down the steep bank from the trail to the downed trees at the top of the upper falls to see if I could catch a view, unfortunately I couldn’t see anything. Disappointed in the side trip to the top of the falls we decided to hike out. We took our time, but even with that it was a quick jaunt out to the trailhead. Back at the car we loaded up for the ride home. What a day in the mountains, it just goes to show how much there is to see in the inland northwest, we were only two hours from town in an area that we haven’t had the time to explore and were treated to a magnificent trip.  We are so lucky to have this stuff in our backyards. For more pictures click the link. Sweet Creek Falls Hike Pictures