Box Canyon Lake Falls

Rachel Lake is the largest water body on the fantastic alpine environs of Rampart Ridge to the east of Snoqualmie Pass. The lake itself is a fairly popular dayhiking destination, even though the trail isn't quite up to the standards of many other hikes in the Interstate 90 corridor. What most don't realize about the Rachel Lake Trail is there are at least a half-dozen major waterfalls which can be found along the headwall below Rachel Lake as the various forks of Box Canyon Creek cascade down into the valley from the ridgeline. The tallest of the waterfalls in the area, by far, occurs along the small outlet stream originating in Box Canyon Lake on the south side of the valley. The stream runs over the significant cliff band on the south side of the valley a short distance east of where Box Canyon Creek itself comes down, and due to the much smaller drainage size it has not been able to erode the bedrock nearly as much. The resulting waterfall plunges 374 feet in three distinct steps, first a lofty free-falling plunge of 196 feet, followed by side-by-side horsetail style drops of 84 feet, then a long cascading runout of 94 feet, after which the creek reverts to cascading down steep talus to the valley floor. Unfortunately the falls cannot be seen at all from the Rachel Lake Trail, save for a sliver through the trees here and there, and the only way to view it clearly is to bushwhack across the valley and scramble up the very steep slope directly below the falls. Couple this with the fact that the stream is likely to be highly seasonal and will probably not flow at all past the end of July and the result is a waterfall that really isn't worth the effort to seek out despite it's considerable height.