On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Mike in Oly
With our wet climate in western Washington State we have plenty of waterfalls just about everywhere you go. Here are some I have photographed over the years that I think are really beautiful.
Chenuis falls, Mt. Rainier Nat. Park. This is one of my favorites, but it is a pain to get to. It’s four miles into a trail and requires crossing a river, so only accessible in summer when the water flow is lower. But it is such a beautiful, peaceful spot. The falls come down a smooth rock slope into a shallow pool that is perfect for swimming (if you can take the cold mountain water). It is entirely shaded over and makes a wonderful respite after the hike in.
Upper Davis Creek falls, Lewis Co. WA. A beautiful falls, but kind of out of the way to get to. IIRC we drove waaaay up a logging road to see it.
Iron Creek falls, Gifford Pinchot Nat. Forest. One of my favorites, easily accessible and breathtaking. I’ve only seen it in summer and would love to go back when the water is really surging to see it in action. I love the geology it tumbles over. You can see where the lava flow just ended as it rolled down this canyon. Looks like at least two different flows too – one atop the other.
This magical waterfall is located in Beacon Rock State Park on the Mt. Hamilton trail. I love how deeply cut into the rock it is. Above it is Pool of the Winds, another water formation cut into the rock that creates a natural funnel that channels the wind. Amazing to see up close.
This is Hinkle Tinkle Creek falls, one of the cutest names I’ve come across out here. A small creek and small falls, but so picturesque. This is up around my husband’s hometown of Packwood, WA.
Lower Hopkins Creek falls, in Lewis Co. WA. This is such a neat formation as the entire lower falls is a staircase of a cascade. I’ve never seen another like it. The upper falls is lovely too and together they comprise a 440 foot drop.
The Little Mashel falls, Pierce Co. WA. A beautiful falls with a lot of power behind it in winter when the rains are keeping it filled.
Last is one from here in town. Tumwater Falls in a local city park. I visit this park often as it is just a pleasant walk along a beautiful section of the Deschutes River. It’s always fun to see the salmon gathering here below the falls in the autumn before heading up the fish ladders to reach the upper river.
Hope you enjoyed this peek at a few of thousands of waterfalls to be found here in western Washington. Come see them in person!
MagdaInBlack
Reminds me some of the north shore of Lake Superior, where there’s a waterfall every few miles.
Beautiful, thank you ❤️
p.a.
Beautiful. Thanks. And I’m viewing on a phone. Will be great on larger platforms.
JeanneT
Lovely! If I ever travel again, a waterfall tour seems like a tempting choice.
raven
It’s been years since I did the “North Cascade Loop” but I want to do it again.
eclare
Such soothing photos, thank you!
Betty
Ah. I can feel that cool mountain air.
Hoodie
It’s the water . . . Oly made some really off the wall TV ads.
Jim Appleton
Nice shots, and nice selection.
Plus you left LOTS of amazing places for folks to discover — all the Lewis River main attractions, for instance.
Thanks!
Dagaetch
Fabulous! I love living in Massachusetts, but the lack of good waterfalls (especially in the eastern portion of the state) is one serious downside to this photographer.
cope
These are great pictures, thank you. I swear I can hear the water tumbling down those falls.
stinger
Wonderful photos!
Denali
I love waterfalls and funny words and Hinkle Tinkle Creek Waterfall made my day! One little known fact is that with all its gorges upstate New York has many beautiful waterfalls, one right in downtown Rochester. Niagara Falls gets all the attention, but there are many others. Now I can’t decide whether waterfall is singular or plural.
Benw
Awesome!
BruceFromOhio
Thank you, these are beautiful!
Imagining the sound of the water that accompanied these pictures …
WaterGirl
So beautiful! These photos moved me to tears, taking me back in time to a favorite waterfall at a summer house owned by the family of my -ex.
Can’t wait for “Waterfalls Part x”!
Rand Careaga
The last photo, of Tumwater Falls, captures a scene that was used for over a century on cans and bottles of “Olympia” beer, a mediocre ale formerly brewed in the region. It was the first beer I ever tasted (at around six; another twenty years were to elapse before I developed a taste for the stuff). The brewery closed earlier in the present century, and the brand itself, subsequently prepared at various locations outside the Pacific Northwest, has apparently been discontinued as of a couple of months ago.
Olympia made much of the product’s origins in “artesian wells,” and the label proudly proclaimed “It’s the water.” In Southern California fifty years ago we used to joke about a particularly awful local beer that Olympia had its artesian wells, Coors its Rocky Mountain spring water and “Brew 102” its big storage tank alongside the San Bernardino Freeway.
Scout211
Gorgeous pics. We visit Tumwater Falls every summer. Well, except for last year. My daughter and her family live right “next door” in Lacey and when we visit them, we all take the walk down the river trail and back up. Good times.
J R in WV
Great photos, we love waterfalls.
WV has quite a few, too. As with Oregon/Washington ours also depend on time of year and recent rainfall events for volume, and there are quite a few you can see from the road. During a heavy rainfall event every mountainside has whitewater running down every low spot.
Thanks for sharing.
CaseyL
Oh, these are wonderful! Thanks for posting about waterfalls in a different part of the state than I usually hike in.
Among my local faves: Twin Falls, an easy 1.5-ish mile hike off I-90 by Exit 31 (North Bend). Wallace Falls off Hwy 522, a three-level falls, with the hiking difficulty easy-to-moderate, depending on which level you want to see.
StringOnAStick
I love waterfalls, thank you!
JanieM
So soothing, even in pictures. Every one of them makes me want to get out into the woods….
joel hanes
Always a treat to see the word “comprise” used correctly.