Van Trump Falls

Mt Rainier National Park / Paradise, Washington, USA

About Van Trump Falls


Hiking Distance: 3.5 miles round trip
Suggested Time: 2-2.5 hours

Date first visited: 2011-08-25
Date last visited: 2011-08-25

Waterfall Latitude: 46.79303
Waterfall Longitude: -121.77783

Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

Van Trump Falls is a waterfall that I’m giving special attention to because we nearly confused it with Comet Falls.

If not for our prior research before going on this hike, we very well could have ended the Comet Falls hike prematurely!

Rainier_309_08252011 - The Upper Van Trump Falls
The Upper Van Trump Falls

Anyways, the waterfall you see pictured above is the uppermost waterfall that we saw on Van Trump Creek along the Comet Falls trail.

It might also be informally known as Upper Van Trump Falls.

The author of our Pacific Northwest Waterfalls guide (Gregory Plumb) also gave names to the cascades we had noticed on Van Trump Creek further downstream from the falls pictured above.

We had noticed them during our Comet Falls hike but didn’t realize they were given names.

Rainier_217_08252011 - One of the intermediate waterfalls on Van Trump Creek, which might be called the Lower Van Trump Falls
One of the intermediate waterfalls on Van Trump Creek, which might be called the Lower Van Trump Falls

He called them Lower and Middle Van Trump Falls, but to be honest, there were so many cascades on that creek that it was hard to tell them apart.

Authorities

Van Trump Falls resides in Mt Rainier National Park near Puyallup in Pierce County, Washington. It is administered by the National Park Service. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.

Rainier_212_08252011 - One of the lower cascades on Van Trump Creek, which might be part of the Lower Van Trump Falls
Rainier_225_08252011 - Partial view of another waterfall on Van Trump Creek seen along the Comet Falls hike
Rainier_240_08252011 - Possibly Middle Van Trump Falls as seen from the Comet Falls hike
Rainier_306_08252011 - Looking against the morning sun at the Upper Van Trump Falls
Rainier_311_08252011 - Attractive view of Van Trump Falls as we were coming back from Comet Falls


Since the waterfalls featured on this page can be seen on the Comet Falls Trail, see the Comet Falls page for more details.

As for geographical context, the Nisqually Entrance of Mt Rainier was 86 miles (supposedly under 2 hours drive) from Seattle and 50 miles (supposedly a little over an hour drive) from Puyallup. Of course with all the traffic restrictions and traffic lights, the reality was that it took at least 30-60 minutes more than what I’m quoting above.

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Right to left sweep of the falls starting from a downstream view then panning past the log bridge before ending at the three-tiered falls (as viewed from the Comet Falls side of the creek)


Downstream to upstream sweep from the log bridge over Van Trump Creek on the Comet Falls Trail ending at the three-tiered upper falls. Don't do what Julie did and mistake it for Comet Falls!

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Tagged with: mt rainier, mount rainier, national park, paradise, pierce, washington, waterfall, van trump, comet falls



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Johnny Cheng

About Johnny Cheng

Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
Read More About Johnny | A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls.