Lower Fan Lake Falls

Lower Fan Lake Falls is a modest two-stepped waterfall which occurs where the unnamed stream which drains from Fan Lake pours into the Muddy Fork of the Cowlitz River. The falls drop a total of 69 feet in two distinct steps. The upper tier is a set of sliding cascades which drop 29 feet total, and the lower tier sprays 40 feet over a nearly sheer cliff, almost directly into the river. The canyon where the falls are found is the uppermost of at least four distinctly separate canyons along the Muddy Fork with similar makeup - the most famous of the group being Box Canyon, found along the Stevens Canyon Highway. While this canyon isn't anywhere near as deep or dramatic, it's far more isolated and feels just as wild and untamed (if not more so). The falls are almost an afterthought. The unnamed stream which produces this waterfall drains from an area of approximately 0.43 square miles, originating in tiny Fan Lake. The upper half of the drainage is found almost entirely above the 5000 foot level, and given the heavy winter snow fall which Mount Rainier receives, the melt feeding the stream should be adequate well into the summer months. By the end of August the volume of water present will likely be reduced to a trickle, and may be reduced to nothing during low snow years.