Falls Creek Falls

This particular Falls Creek is a small volume tributary to the Carbon River located in the very northwest corner of Mount Rainier National Park. As its name implies, a modest set of waterfalls can be found along the creek as it tumbles into the Carbon River valley. The largest falls on the creek is the final set, which drops a total of 101 feet in two distinct steps. The upper tier plunges 53 feet in a cliff-ringed alcove which, as of 2019 at least, was littered with several large logs which had fallen into the canyon. Upon exiting the small pool at the base of the upper drop, the creek then slides down a series of cascades which drop another 48 feet. About 200 feet downstream from the bottom of the waterfall is a logjam of considerable size which has been back-filled with gravel and silt, which appears to have been a product of the catastrophic floods which struck Mount Rainier in November of 2006. Falls Creek is not a terribly large stream, draining from a basin approximately 1.6 square miles in size, but retains a modest flow throughout the year thanks to the significant precipitation that the northwest flank of Mount Rainier receives.