Fairy Falls
Washington · height not recorded · Mount Rainier National Park · Last verified 2026-05-15
Flow at Fairy Falls is 268 cfs today, around its seasonal average.
Right now
Streamflow
268 cfs
COWLITZ RIVER AT PACKWOOD, · 1h ago
Overnight
35°F
Mostly Cloudy
Sunday
39°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 13m ago. Sources: USGS · NWS SEW.
No verified photo yet
Fairy Falls is a waterfall in Pierce County, Washington. Height has not been officially recorded. Access details and conditions have not yet been verified in person by Fallspots — the data on this page comes from OpenStreetMap and USGS GNIS.
Fairy Falls sits in Pierce County, Washington. It drops along Cowlitz River. The falls are inside Mount Rainier National Park, a US National Park. The base sits at roughly 5,642 feet of elevation. Drive time is about 18 minutes from Packwood. No mapped trail runs within 200 meters — expect bushwhacking or off-trail navigation to reach the lip. 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.
Fairy Falls is a waterfall in the Mount Rainier National Park in Pierce County, Washington. The falls are fed by an unnamed watercourse, which is a tributary of the Cowlitz River. The falls drop about 680 feet (210 m) into a narrow, wooden canyon in a horsetail form about 20 feet (6.1 m) wide.
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 · 12.6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairy Falls (this page) | — | — | — | N | — |
| Upper Stevens Creek Falls | 0 mi | 375 ft | — | N | — |
| Sluiskin Falls | 1 mi | — | — | N | — |
| Paradise Falls | 1 mi | — | — | N | — |
| Golden Gate Falls | 1 mi | — | — | N | — |
| Sunbeam Falls | 1 mi | — | — | N | — |
Questions visitors ask about Fairy Falls
Answers built from our structured data. If a question isn't here, the fact is unverified — we'd rather omit than guess.
Is Fairy Falls in a national or state park?
Yes — Fairy Falls is inside Mount Rainier National Park. See the park page for fees, hours, and current conditions.
Can I bring my dog to Fairy 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 Fairy Falls from a major city?
Fairy Falls is 13 miles from Packwood (about 18 minutes' drive).
More waterfalls in Washington
Where it is
46.7945, -121.6995
Sources and live status
Where we got the data, and where to check current conditions before you drive.
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_Falls_(Washington)
Wikidata (Q85760361)
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q85760361
Last verified by Fallspots: 2026-05-15
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