Jug Lake Falls

Jug Lake is one of the largest of literally hundreds of bodies of water which feed into the upper Summit Creek basin southeast of Mount Rainier National Park. Its outlet stream descends through a considerable canyon in the form of a rather impressive 194-foot tall waterfall on its way to meet the main stem of Summit Creek. The falls are made up of a nearly-vertical 110 foot tall plunging drop, followed by a small cascade of 22 feet and finally a steep, jagged horsetail type drop of 62 feet. Imagery currently available on Google Earth suggests there may be an additional tier or two just out of view upstream from the largest tier as well, though viewing these sections may be a bit more difficult. As the basin which feeds the Jug Lake outlet stream is not graced with the same porous volcanic topography that is found on the plateau to the east that fuels much of Summit Creek, the volume of water present in the stream is much more heavily dependent on snow melt than spring water and in turn the volume of the stream will be reduced considerably as the year progresses. The falls should be at their best between May and July, but by the end of August expect just a small volume of water flowing down the canyon.