Spray Falls

Spray Falls is accessed from the end of the Mowich Lake Road in Mount Rainier National Park. From Highway 410 in Buckley, take Highway 165 toward Wilkeson, Carbonado, and the Carbon River Ranger Station. About 3-1/2 miles south of Carbonado, just after crossing the rickety one-lane Fairfax Bridge over the Carbon River Gorge, veer right (uphill) where the road splits - signs point the way to Mowich Lake and Evans Creek ORV area, and follow the road to its end at Mowich Lake in another 16 bumpy miles. The wonderland Trail can be found adjacent to the restrooms and the campground at the end of the road (parking further away may be necessary, especially on weekends). Follow the signs pointing the way to Spray Park and Falls, with the falls being encountered after 2.3 miles - the spur leading to the falls (marked by a sign) branches from the Wonderland Trail immediately before it begins climbing via switchbacks.Spray Creek produces one of the largest waterfalls in Mount Rainier National Park as it flows over the edge of a lofty cliff as it exits Spray Park and veils down massive 354-foot tall Spray Falls. The falls begin as a narrow horsetail type drop a mere 10 or so feet wide, and then quickly veil outwards to a width of about 75 feet as the stream skips down a diagonally pitched portion of the outcrop. After falling about 130 feet, the cliff twists slightly to the river-left and becomes a nearly sheer drop, resulting in the remaining portion of the fall twisting off its initial angle of descent, broadening to over 100 feet in width and falling mostly freely to the talus slope below. Because of how the creek twists as it falls, and how the trail approaches the fall, there is a considerable amount of foreshortening in play when viewing the falls from the end of the trail. Trees further downstream unfortunately obstruct the vast majority of the waterfall from view, but there are a handful of locations along Spray Creek near its confluence with neighboring Grant Creek that do a much better job of allowing the full scope and true size of the falls to be appreciated. Spray Creek is sourced in the remnants of part of the Flett Glacier, but as the glacier is effectively extinct now (not quite to the degree of some of the other small glaciers on Mount Rainier though), it relies heavily on the winter snowpack as well. The volume of water present in the creek will be considerably higher from May to late July when Spray Park is melting out and its numerous distributary streams are full. By late August expect the volume of the stream to be reduced, though the falls do still flow well all year long.Though an exact time frame isn't known, Spray Falls is thought to have been discovered in 1883 when the Bailey Willis Trail, long since replaced with the Spray Park trail, was constructed. The name stems from the physical nature of the falls and was afterward extended to both the creek and Spray Park.