By After our day in Portland it was still raining at Mount Rainier but it was mostly just a chilly drizzle so Keltin and I decided that we were going to explore the park some more and spy out all the waterfalls that we could. We had seen Silver Falls on our first day but there are a lot in the area.
We started out with Carter Falls. The trail to get to these falls is actually part of the Wonderland Trail and you have to cross a wooden bridge over the Nisqually River. According to my watch this was a 2.8 mile round trip hike. This was not our favorite waterfall but the hike to get there and the view of the Nisqually River Valley is worth it.
The next waterfall on our list was Christine Falls. This waterfall can actually be seen from the road but I highly recommend pulling off at the over look and going down a short flight of stairs because the platform there presents a wonderful, fairy tale view of the falls.
The last waterfall on the list for this day was Narada Falls. You can see some of Narada Falls from the bridge near the parking lot but not much of it. The best view of the falls is from the overlook that is a .1 mile hike away. This is not a far hike, unless the path is covered in several feet of fairly hard packed snow. We slipped and slid a bit but made it to the overlook that was – thankfully – free of snow. I don’t recommend the slipping through the snow unless you have the right foot gear. A gentleman that went down before us slipped and dropped his car keys. Thankfully I found them and was able to return them.
The rest of this day was spent at overlooks and watching the snow fall at Paradise before heading in for an early dinner because we finally ended up cold and wet from the precipitation but happy with our waterfall hunting. I do suggests Christine Falls and Narada Falls for those that can’t hike farther back into the park to see some of the others. If you can hike to some of the more remote waterfalls it is defiantly worth it. Let me know what you think of these falls and if you have a favorite one at Mount Rainier National Park. Safe travels, leave no trace, and I’ll see you in the comments.
Thank you KW Photography for allowing me to use your wonderful photos!
McGee Travel Tales 