Skookum Falls

The viewpoint for Skookum Falls can be found directly along Highway 410 about 9.5 miles south of the town of Greenwater. The falls can also be accessed on foot via the Skookum Flats Trail. From the roadside viewpoint, drive north on Highway 410 for just over 2 miles, then turn left (west) onto Forest Service Road 73 and continue for just under a half of a mile to the trailhead parking on the west side of the bridge over the White River. The Skookum Flats trail runs an easy 2.2 miles to a footbridge over one of two channels Skookum Creek occupies (the other requires rock-hopping), after which a boot path with a sign simply marking "Falls" branches right and leads steeply up to the base of the falls in a few hundred feet.Skookum Falls is a rather tall, but low volume waterfall which is prominently visible along Highway 410 between Greenwater and Mount Rainier Natioanl Park. The falls drop 366 feet in two narrow horsetail-type steps; the upper falling 214 feet and the lower 161 feet, about three-quarters of which can be easily viewed from a well signed pullout along the highway. It's possible the falls may be even taller than we have measured as well, as the creek appears to snake down through a narrow cleft in the cliff prior to emerging at the top of the visible portion of the falls - we would not be surprised if its total height actually eclipsed 450 feet. While it is tall, Skookum Creek drains from an area of only about one square mile and thus the volume of the stream is very limited. During the spring months when snowmelt is at its peak, the falls appear quite respectable, however by early July the falls are usually little more than a trickle, and may dry out entirely by September in particularly dry years (this is rare however). In incredible contrast however, we were able to visit the falls during record high temperatures (85 degrees) in May of 2008 when there was still ample snowpack high in the basin, and this allowed the falls to swell to a previously unfathomable scale - don't expect this kind of occurrence to be common however.Skookum is a Chinook Jargon word meaning "Evil Spirit".