Upper Eunice Lake Falls

Upper Eunice Lake Falls is accessed from Mowich Lake 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 then follow the road to its end at Mowich Lake in another 16 bumpy miles. From the end of the road, hike north along the Wonderland Trail around the west side of Mowich Lake (following signs pointing to Ipsut Pass) for about a mile to a junction just before reaching Ipsut Pass. Bear left at the junction, following signs pointing to Eunice Lake and Tolmie Peak and continue for about one-half mile further to where the trail makes a switchback within earshot of the falls (if it's dry, you obviously won't hear it). Well worn paths lead shortly to the base of the falls from the main trail.The outlet stream of Mount Rainier National Park's scenic Eunice Lake features no less than three waterfalls of significance. The uppermost of these falls is located along the popular Tolmie Peak Trail a short distance downstream of where it reaches Eunice Lake. The falls drop 71 feet where the outlet stream glides down a narrow crevice in the bedrock, and then spreads out over a broader cliff and plunges for its final descent. Because the basin harboring Eunice Lake is exceptionally small, the falls along its outlet stream have a very limited duration of good flow each year. This coupled with the fact that the Mowich Lake Road is normally not opened to the end until around early June in most years means that the window to visit the falls and actually see it flowing with a decent volume is exceedingly short - perhaps as narrow as 4-6 weeks, depending on the early summer temperatures and the depth of the previous winter's snow pack. When we surveyed the falls in mid-July of 2016 the Eunice Lake basin had already melted completely and the falls were just barely a trickle.