Lower Chinook Creek Falls

Though fairly easy to observe from a trail and not terribly far from the major north-south road through Mount Rainier National Park, Lower Chinook Creek Falls doesn't receive a whole lot of attention due to its semi out-of-the-way location and the fact that in order to view the falls clearly a steep (potentially dangerous) scramble down into the creek's canyon is needed. Though both Stafford Falls and the Chinook Cascades lie further downstream, neither are very large or noteworthy when compared to the majority of the other waterfalls in the area. Lower Chinook Creek Falls cascades and veils a total of 136 feet in three steps, with drops of 18,36 and 82 feet respectively, with the uppermost tier being essentially hidden from view from the base of the falls due to foreshortening. At this point along its course, Chinook Creek receives water from two major basins - the Chinook Pass area and Dewey Creek. Neither of these basins harbor permanent snow or ice, and other than tiny Tipsoo Lake neither is there standing water to feed the streams. This means that once the winter snow has melted off (usually by the end of July) the amount of water present in Chinook Creek will drop considerably, and the falls will lose a lot of its luster as a result. The upside to this situation is that with a greatly reduced volume it becomes considerably easier to get close to the falls for pictures without worrying about spray getting on your lens.This waterfall had been almost exclusively referred to as Chinook Creek Falls in the past, including in Greg Plumb's "Waterfall Lover's Guide" books. Due to the considerable number of waterfalls found along Chinook Creek further upstream from this location, it became necessary to adjust the naming conventions.