Rampart Falls

Rampart Falls is a huge, multi-stepped waterfall which occurs along the unnamed stream that drains out of the small Rampart Lakes basin on the edge of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness near Snoqualmie Pass. The falls drop a total of 644 feet over six distinct steps, in a run of about 750 feet. Though the horizontal distance between the top and bottom of the falls is considerable, all six sections of the falls are quite steep - if not truly vertical - with no one fall dropping at less than an approximate 60 degree angle. The falls begin with the largest drop, a horsetail-type fall of 243 feet where the creek breaks into the Gold Creek valley, the upper section veiling down the cliff, and the lower section stair-stepping over very short ledges, with the very last part of the drop splitting into an eye-catching segmented leap. The uppermost section of this fall can be partially seen from the Gold Creek trail in a few places. Following the big drop the creek accelerates through a narrow chute and drops 38 feet to a small landing (which we were unfortunately not able to clearly photograph). The third tier then shoots through a narrow gap and plunges a sheer 81 feet, the water spouting out well away from the cliff face. The fourth tier follows after a short meander of the stream in the form of a 143-foot fall which begins as a veiling horsetail and then cascades over several steps. The longest pause between the drops occurs between the fourth and fifth tiers, and then the fifth and sixth tiers occur nearly back to back in the form of 68 and 71 foot tall horsetail type drops respectively. Unfortunately no two sections of the falls appear to be possible to view together, at least from the south side of the creek where we scouted - perhaps a future survey will identify better views of collective portions of the falls. Though the stream draining the Rampart Lakes only has a basin area of about 0.6 square miles above Rampart Falls, the high elevation and numerous lakes ensures that there is water present throughout the year. During the late summer its volume may be reduced to just a trickle, but during the peak of snow melt season the creek will swell to rather impressive proportions which pushes Rampart Falls into the upper echelon of waterfalls within the Alpine Lakes region of Washington.