Comet Falls
Washington · 381-foot drop · Mount Rainier National Park · Last verified 2026-05-15
Flow at Comet Falls is 268 cfs today, around its seasonal average.
Right now
Streamflow
268 cfs
COWLITZ RIVER AT PACKWOOD, · 1h ago
Overnight
37°F
Mostly Cloudy
Sunday
41°F
Light Snow Likely
Today's daylight
Sunrise 7:38 AM · Sunset 6:03 PM · 10h 25m
Other park alerts
- Winter Season Closures(Information)
- WILDFIRE CLOSURES: Sunrise & northern trails.(Danger)
- Fryingpan Creek Bridge Replacement Project: Trail Impacts(Information)
Snapshot built 14m ago. Sources: USGS · NWS SEW.
Comet Falls is a waterfall in Pierce County, Washington. It drops roughly 381 feet. Access details and conditions have not yet been verified in person by Fallspots — the data on this page comes from OpenStreetMap and USGS GNIS.
Comet Falls sits in Pierce County, Washington. It drops along Van Trump Creek. The falls are inside Mount Rainier National Park, a US National Park. The base sits at roughly 5,330 feet of elevation. Drive time is about 16 minutes from Ashford. OpenStreetMap shows a trail within 80 meters of the marked location, though the name isn't recorded. No public parking is recorded within 2 km, so a longer approach is likely. This is one of the more frequently visited falls in the state by our popularity model. Source records come from OpenStreetMap and USGS GNIS.
Comet Falls is a tall waterfall located on Van Trump Creek in Pierce County, Washington. The falls are thought to be the best in the Mount Rainier region.
Is the water flowing right now?
Most waterfall sites don't tell you this. The waterfall itself is almost never gauged, but a USGS streamgage in the same watershed can tell you whether snowmelt has started, peaked, or run dry.
USGS gage 14226500 · 13.5 mi away
COWLITZ RIVER AT PACKWOOD, WA
— Distant gauge — proxy reading, not on the same drainage.
View live discharge data →
30-day streamflow
Below 30-day average↻ Same date last year: 1,050 cfs · 24% of last year — significantly drier
Compare to nearby falls
If this one isn't the right fit, here's how it stacks up against the closest documented falls. Every column is filterable on the site — not buried in 13,000 reviews.
| Waterfall | Distance | Height | Trail | Dogs | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comet Falls (this page) | — | 381 ft | — | N | — |
| Bloucher Falls | 0 mi | 121 ft | — | N | — |
| Upper Comet Falls | 0 mi | — | — | N | — |
| Kautz Creek Falls | 1 mi | 394 ft | — | N | — |
| Pearl Falls | 1 mi | — | — | N | — |
| Christine Falls | 1 mi | 69 ft | — | N | — |
Side-by-side comparisons
Comet Falls compared head-to-head with other documented falls — height, access, fees, dogs, swimmability in one row each.
Related waterfalls
On the same watercourse (Van Trump Creek)
- Christine Falls69 ft
Similar height (~381 ft)
- Upper Stevens Creek Falls375 ft
- Illilouette Fall370 ft
- Kautz Creek Falls394 ft
- Sunray Falls394 ft
- Yocum Ridge Falls394 ft
Questions visitors ask about Comet Falls
Answers built from our structured data. If a question isn't here, the fact is unverified — we'd rather omit than guess.
How tall is Comet Falls?
Comet Falls is 381 feet (116 m) tall. Source heights disagree by source — see the discrepancy box on the page.
Is Comet Falls in a national or state park?
Yes — Comet Falls is inside Mount Rainier National Park. See the park page for fees, hours, and current conditions.
Can I bring my dog to Comet Falls?
No — dogs are not allowed on trails here. Most National Park trails prohibit pets to protect wildlife. Service animals are an exception per ADA.
How far is Comet Falls from a major city?
Comet Falls is 11 miles from Ashford (about 16 minutes' drive).
More waterfalls in Washington
Where it is
46.7961, -121.7804
Sources and live status
Where we got the data, and where to check current conditions before you drive.
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Falls
Wikidata (Q37290)
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q37290
GeoNames (5790689)
https://www.geonames.org/5790689/
Last verified by Fallspots: 2026-05-15
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