Franklin Falls
Washington · 135-foot drop · Last verified 2026-05-15
Flow at Franklin Falls is light today (38 cfs) — visit for the geology, not the volume.
Right now
Streamflow
38.1 cfs
SF SNOQUALMIE RIVER AB · 28m ago
Overnight
66°F
Patchy Smoke
Wednesday
91°F
Patchy Smoke
Today's daylight
Sunrise 5:31 AM · Sunset 8:52 PM · 15h 22m
Snapshot built 9m ago. Sources: USGS · NWS SEW.
Franklin Falls is a waterfall in King County, Washington. It drops roughly 135 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.
Franklin Falls sits in King County, Washington. It drops along Franklin Falls is a waterfall on the South fork of the Snoqualmie River. The base sits at roughly 2,696 feet of elevation. Drive time is about 3 minutes from Snoqualmie Pass. A trail — Franklin Falls Trail — runs within 10 meters of the marked location. 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.
Franklin Falls is a waterfall on the South fork of the Snoqualmie River, the first of three major waterfalls on the South Fork Snoqualmie River. The falls are located near Snoqualmie Pass in King County, Washington, United States, between the north and south lanes of Interstate 90, just east of exit 47. The falls actually consist of three tiers, totaling about 135 feet (41 m). The first drop is a very scenic 15-foot (4.6 m) block-shaped fall. The second drop is a 25-foot (7.6 m) fanning cascade. The final drop begins as a 25-foot slide, which bends to the right, then plunges over the final 70-foot (21 m) drop seen from the base of the falls. The falls are popular canyoneering destination. The upper two drops are north of the freeway.
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 12143400 · 7.3 mi away
SF SNOQUALMIE RIVER AB ALICE CREEK NEAR GARCIA, WA
View live discharge data →
30-day streamflow
Below 30-day average↻ Same date last year: 43.3 cfs · 94% of last year — similar
When to go (from the climate data, not our opinion)
Monthly averages from Open-Meteo's reanalysis dataset (2020–2024). Highlighted months are when we think the waterfall is at its best — but the numbers are the numbers regardless.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip (in) | Snow days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 36 | 28 | 13.8 | 22.2 |
| Feb | 36 | 26 | 12.4 | 22 |
| Mar | 41 | 29 | 5.8 | 19.8 |
| Apr | 45 | 32 | 5.7 | 15.6 |
| May | 55 | 39 | 5 | 8.8 |
| Jun | 63 | 46 | 4.7 | 1.6 |
| Jul | 73 | 53 | 1 | 0 |
| Aug | 73 | 53 | 1.9 | 0.2 |
| Sep | 67 | 50 | 3.6 | 0.4 |
| Oct | 55 | 41 | 7.4 | 8.4 |
| Nov | 41 | 31 | 12.4 | 18.6 |
| Dec | 35 | 27 | 12.6 | 22.2 |
Source: Open-Meteo Historical Weather API · ERA5 reanalysis 2020–2024.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin Falls (this page) | — | 135 ft | — | — | — |
| Denny Camp Falls | 1 mi | — | — | — | — |
| Fall into the Wall | 1 mi | — | — | — | — |
| Keekwulee Falls | 1 mi | 561 ft | — | — | — |
| Snowshoe Falls | 1 mi | 492 ft | — | — | — |
| Rampart Falls | 4 mi | 644 ft | — | — | — |
Side-by-side comparisons
Franklin Falls compared head-to-head with other documented falls — height, access, fees, dogs, swimmability in one row each.
Related waterfalls
Similar height (~135 ft)
- Niagara Falls135 ft
- North Falls135 ft
- Winter Falls135 ft
- Crevice Twin Falls134 ft
- Panther Creek Falls136 ft
Questions visitors ask about Franklin 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 Franklin Falls?
Franklin Falls is 135 feet (41 m) tall. Height is sourced from OSM.
How far is Franklin Falls from a major city?
Franklin Falls is 2 miles from Snoqualmie Pass (about 3 minutes' drive).
More waterfalls in Washington
Where it is
47.4250, -121.4329
Sources and live status
Where we got the data, and where to check current conditions before you drive.
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Falls
Wikidata (Q37421)
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q37421
GeoNames (5794984)
https://www.geonames.org/5794984/
Last verified by Fallspots: 2026-05-15
Been there?
Marina and Theo verify pages one road trip at a time. If you've been to Franklin Falls recently, your local knowledge improves the page for everyone. Pick the kind of contribution that fits — every email lands in our inbox and gets read (and credited when we publish).
Add a tip
Something we should know — best time, parking trick, that hidden viewpoint.
Share a photo
Have a CC-licensed image on Wikimedia or Flickr? Send the link.
Report a fix
Wrong height, closed trail, broken link — tell us what we got wrong.
We don't collect your email. Replies go directly to hello@fallspots.com.