BLACK DIAMOND, Wash. - A 20-year-old man from Port Orchard died at the Green River Gorge on Saturday, a watering hole that has had a history of tragic incidents.
The King County Sheriff’s Office says the man jumped into the river, struggled to resurface, and attempts to administer CPR by friends, bystanders, and Puget Sound Fire responders were unsuccessful.
The Green River Gorge is a 55-acre stretch of private property that is open to the public for a $5 charge. There is a gate where people pay the entry fee, and park employees give safety talks and check for alcohol.
People staffing the gate on Monday informed visitors about the death, and there is a paper marking the grim occasion and noting four other “incidents’ that have happened so far this summer, including a hiker who fell.
Sgt. Ben Callahan with the King County Sheriff’s Office Marine Rescue Unit says it’s a common spot for them to respond to.
“A lot of the rivers have problem spots that we respond to constantly, and the Green River Gorge has historically been a place that we do see a lot of responses to due to the number of people that visit it and then the challenge of the terrain.” Callahan said.
Two people also died at the watering hole in 2021 and 2022. Callahan measured the temperature of the water Monday morning, noting it was a chilly 49 degrees, compared to the 72 degrees at the surface of Lake Sammamish.
The current is strong and can catch people off guard, according to Callahan and several people visiting the area on Monday.
“The water feeding those particular streams and rivers is still snow runoff this time of year, even this late in the summer,” Callahan said.
The rural area just outside of Black Diamond has very spotty cell phone coverage. It’s only accessible by a hike down the cliffside, a mix of dilapidated steps, stairs built into the hill, and rock that weaves in and out of boulders on the rivers’ banks.
‘The most beautiful places we have in this area, it’s because they’re remote and they’re untouched. But then the more remote something is, the less chance of success we have within the rescue or recovery operation when something bad goes on." Callahan said.