Granite Falls

Granite Falls is a name we've seen floating around in a few early pieces of literature on Mount Rainier National Park from the turn of the 20th century. Every reference to this waterfall mentioned its height as 350 feet and always cited its location as 3-1/2 miles northeast of Paradise, but never offered up any further details about what stream it may be located on or other landmarks which may be nearby. For the longest time we tossed around a theory that it may have been an early name for the major falls on Stevens Creek, but no other evidence ever suggested this was a valid idea. Recently we uncovered several copies of the various annual Rules and Regulations guide pamphlets to Mount Rainier National Park published by the Department of the Interior, in which was that same reference to "Granite Falls - 350 feet", but this time there was another notation which specifically mentioned "a large volume of water". This essentially meant the falls had to be originating from a glacier. Since Stevens Creek was out, the only logical areas to look would be around the Cowlitz and Whitman Glaciers. The distance held up correctly, but none of the streams coming off these two glaciers seemed to fit the characteristics of "large volume". However it dawned on us that over 100 years ago the glaciers covered a substantially broader area and may have been sending melt streams down different courses. It just so happens that the Whitman Glacier formerly extended at least three-quarters of a mile further east than it does now, on two steps of Cowlitz Ridge. One of these lobes of the glacier almost certainly emptied into a small basin which today produces a smaller volume (but permanent) stream that produces a three-tiered waterfall of about 260 feet in height which veils down towards the Cowlitz Glacier. The channel of this stream is quite thoroughly scoured as well, which further suggests it used to be much bigger than it currently is. While we have no firm evidence that this is indeed the waterfall once known as Granite Falls, it remains by far the most probable candidate.