Picture Frame Falls

Located in Stevens Canyon, within Mount Rainier National Park. The falls are found immediately adjacent to SR 706, on the left side of the Stevens Creek Bridge, which is located 1.2 miles east of The Bench, or about 4 2/3 miles west of Box Canyon.This small waterfall can be seen immediately adjacent to SR 706, where it crosses Stevens Creek at the head of Stevens Canyon. The falls veil 26 feet over a fractured blocky ledge of the Mount Rainier Andesite formation. A second fall of as much as 40 feet in height occurs about 300 feet upstream that can be barely glimpsed through the brush from adjacent to the Stevens Creek bridge, but access is likely extremely arduous. Though clearly visible from the road, most visitors pass the falls by because of its lesser stature. The roadside upper portion of Upper Sunbeam Falls, about 2 miles west of this location, is very similar in appearance and is very often photographed, but Picture Frame Falls are comparatively neglected despite it being nearly as scenic. The small stream which the falls lie on relies almost entirely on the annual snowfall, and often runs dry, or nearly dry, by August.The falls don't appear to be though significant enough to have ever been officially or colloquially named. A waterfall marked on the Mount Rainier East quadrangle half a mile upstream from this fall has been informally known as Upper Stevens Valley Falls, and Picture Frame Falls has occasionally been known as Stevens Valley Falls. The 4th edition of Greg Plumb's "Waterfall Lover's Guide" book refers to this entry as Stevens Fork Falls. We chose to refer to the falls as Picture Frame Falls as a more colorful descriptor of the greenery which in essence frames the falls on all sides.