Whirlpool Falls is a very popular swimming hole within the park. The falls themselves are only about ten feet in height but the cliffs adjacent to the falls reach to about 30 feet (9.1 m) high. During the summer one can usually watch swimmers jumping from these tall cliffs into the punchbowl pool below. The falls are located along the "Whirlpool Loop Trail."

Swimming at these falls was outlawed for a number of years following the pipeline disaster, of which damage is visible from popular cliffs. After various signs warning swimmers from entering, and fences meant to keep them out were destroyed, the city gave up regulating the area and removed all warnings and barriers.

These falls are frequently referred to incorrectly as Middle Whatcom Falls or Lower Whatcom Falls. Middle falls is located down creek near the western edge of the park and not reachable by trail. The area surrounding the middle falls was devastated by the Olympic Pipeline disaster and is off limits to the public. The lower falls are actually located a couple miles downstream just above the estuary at Maritime Heritage Park.