Lower Cataract Falls

Take Highway 410 to the town of Buckley, then bear east onto Highway 165, signed for Carbonado, Wilkeson and Mt. Rainier. Follow Highway 165 for 16 miles, bearing left at the fork (follow signs to Carbon River) after the Fairfax Bridge, to its end at the National Park boundary – the road beyond having been closed permanently due to extensive flood damage. Continue either on foot or bicycle for another 4.9 miles to the former end of the road at the Ipsut Creek Campground (now a backcountry camp). Park your bike if necessary and continue on foot along the Carbon Glacier Trail from here. The Carbon Glacier Trail climbs moderately along the side of the valley for 2 miles, at which point flood damage has resulted in an indefinite (likely permanent) closure of the west-side trail, so all travel must detour across the valley on the Northern Loop Trail (the bridges over the Carbon River are seasonal and are not guaranteed to be in). Once across to the Northern Loop trail, head right at the junction (left goes to Windy Gap and Lake James). At 3.6 miles from the campground the Northern Loop Trail intersects the Wonderland Trail where it crosses the Carbon River on a 200-foot long suspension bridge. Bear right and cross the bridge, proceeding another fifth of a mile to the next junction where the Wonderland Trail heads left up Cataract Creek valley, and right leads to the Carbon Valley camp site. The falls can be seen from the footbridge over Cataract Creek about 100 feet further along the right trail - a total of 3.8 miles from Ipsut Creek Campground, and 8.6 miles from the parking area.Though really an afterthought at this point, Cataract Creek's final hurrah is a pretty but rather inconsequential 22-foot tall cascade where it slides down a bulbous protrusion of bedrock shortly before emptying into the broad, rocky valley of the Carbon River. The falls spread out to as much as 40-feet in width during periods of high flow in the spring and early summer, but by September the creek is reduced to only cover a fraction of the ledge - usually constrained to the left side on the top, and the right on the bottom, which makes it difficult to photograph well.