Maid Of The Mist Falls

Exit I-405 at Renton and turn south on Hwy 169 towards Maple Valley and Black Diamond. Drive 22 miles to Black Diamond and turn left onto Green River Gorge Road in the middle of town (next to the Gas Station, marked as a local street for several blocks). Drive along this road for about 3 miles to the single lane Franklin Bridge spanning the gorge. Parking is extremely limited around the Franklin Bridge (heed the No Parking signs please), so a short walk along the road will be necessary to reach the bridge. The falls are visible off the downstream side.A small unmarked stream glides over a smooth rock then plunges to the bottom of the Green River Gorge. The stream is fed by a large perennial spring located above Green River Gorge Road. The falls are on property owned by the Green River Gorge Resort, who have posted the property due to littering and vandalism. If they ever decide to open the property, there is a trail leading to the base of the falls from the small resort building next to the Franklin Bridge (a bridge crossing above the falls is visible in the picture above). A few sources indicate that the rocky "beach" immediately downstream of the falls actually lies within Hanging Gardens State Park. Please do not attempt to get close to the waterfall until the legal status of the surrounding lands are determined. During the winter a tall seasonal waterfall can be seen plunging about 100 feet towards the Green River just downstream from Maid of the Mist Falls.During the hayday of coal exploration in the Black Diamond area, the town of Franklin popped up around this point in the gorge. Early postcards from the area labeled this Maid of the Mist Falls. I suspect it has something to do with the natural pathway that goes behind the falls. Franklin, now long gone, once stood above the falls, across the street from the now defunct Green River Gorge Resort. Once the mines in the area dried out, the town was abandoned, but the name of the town remains to this day on various maps, including the USGS 7 1/2" quadrangles. More recently the falls have been known as Green River Gorge Falls.