Stevens Creek Falls

Stevens Creek Falls is a major waterfall found along its namesake creek as it descends into the depths of Stevens Canyon below the Stevens Canyon Road in Mount Rainier National Park. The falls drop a total of 158 feet in two distinct tiers, first falling 29 feet into a small swirling cauldron, and then immediately leaping down a heavily fractured Granodiorite cliff for an additional 129 feet to a secluded alcove below, just upstream of the confluence with Sunbeam Creek. At the base of the falls the creek impacts a jutting ledge which causes the water to explode outward in a powerful arc of water, which also ensures a heavy mist thoroughly saturates the area below the falls. Geologically Stevens Creek Falls is unique when compared to most of the other waterfalls found within Stevens Canyon. The waterfalls along Sunbeam, Unicorn, and Maple Creeks all descend from the south side of the canyon where they are formed by the Andesite cliffs which line the south side of the valley, much of which features well defined columnar jointing. The north side of the canyon is however part of the Tatoosh Pluton, a Granodiorite intrusion left over from the remnants of the volcano which pre-dates Mount Rainier. Because of the way the rock on this side of the canyon fractures differently, the falls which occur on that bedrock also behave somewhat differently; the rock sculpting much smoother and allowing for more small ledges to form along the cleave plains. Stevens Creek is primarily fed by what remains of the Paradise Glacier on Mount Rainier. Though the lower lobe of the glacier disappeared entirely by the early 1990s, the upper lobe which sits on a ridge between the 7,300 and 8,300 elevation levels remains moderately healthy and should continue to provide ample flow to the creek. During the peak of snow melt season Stevens Creek will swell to volumes comparable with many of the other major glacier-fed streams radiating from Mount Rainier. Winter snow pack in this area is also considerable, so should the glacier shrivel up and disappear suddenly the catchment basin of about 2.7 square miles upstream of the falls should still ensure a good flow of water is present at just about any time of year.