Nugget Falls

{{Short description|Alaskan waterfall}}

{{For|Nugget Falls, along the Rogue River|Dillon Falls (Jackson County, OHIO)}}

{{Infobox waterfall

| name = Nugget Falls

| photo = Nugget Falls near Mendenhall Glacier, Aug 2016.jpg

| photo_width = 250

| photo_caption =

| location = East of Mendenhall Glacier, Auke Bay, Alaska

| coords = {{coord|58.4272|-134.5367|type:landmark_region:US-AK|display=inline,title}}

| elevation =

| type = Cascade and Fan

| height = {{convert|377|ft|m}}

| width = {{convert|100|ft|m}}

| height_longest = {{convert|278|ft|m}}

| average_width =

| number_drops = 2

| average_flow = Perennial

| watercourse = Nugget Creek

| world_rank =

}}

Nugget Falls, also known as Nugget Creek Falls or Mendenhall Glacier Falls, is a waterfall downstream of the Nugget Glacier, at the base of Bullard Mountain, in the U.S. state of Alaska. Formed by the creek from the Nugget Glacier, the waterfall drops {{convert|377|ft|m}} in two tiers of {{convert|99|ft|m}} and {{convert|278|ft|m}} onto a sandbar in Mendenhall Lake, which is the freshwater pool at the face of the Mendenhall Glacier. The lake then drains via Mendenhall River into the Inside Passage.{{cite web|last=Bryan Swan|first=Dean Goss|url=http://www.world-waterfalls.com/waterfall.php?num=460|title=Nugget Falls|publisher=www.world-waterfalls.com|work=World Waterfall Database|accessdate=2009-06-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105154431/http://world-waterfalls.com/waterfall.php?num=460|archive-date=2010-01-05|url-status=dead}} The waterfall is fed by Nugget Creek, which is in turn fed by the Nugget Glacier, a tributary glacier on the mountainside east of Auke Bay. The creek cascades down towards Mendenhall Lake, forming a hanging valley, then plunges over the falls to the lake. Prior to the recession of Mendenhall Glacier, it was said that the falls would drop "directly on the glacier", or that the "glacier covered the waterfall".{{cite web|url=http://www.nomadjournaltrips.com/mendenhall_glacier_alaska|title=Going It Alone: The Waterfall at Mendenhall Glacier, Alaska|last=Gabriel|first=Theresa|publisher=www.nomadjournaltrips.com|work=nomad journal trips|accessdate=2009-06-17|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090602132930/http://www.nomadjournaltrips.com/mendenhall_glacier_alaska|archivedate=2009-06-02}}