Hiking Guide to Little Mashel Falls

Little Mashel Falls is a great waterfall hike leaving from the town of Eatonville about 1/2 hour outside Mount Rainier National Park. It is relatively unknown about as it gets overshadowed by the hiking inside the national park. During the winter and spring it actually has the best set of waterfalls in this region! We would recommend to skip in middle to late summer as there are much better hiking options in the region and the flow off the falls drops considerably.

Details on how to get to the falls can be confusing or misleading. We believe the most straightforward option is to leave from the Bud Blancher trailhead located off center street in Eatonville.

In total the hike is just around 5.5 miles and you can view three distinct waterfalls, lower, middle and upper. Middle Falls is the most impressive and Upper Falls can be skipped if you are running short on time (no photos of this one as it was temporarily closed during our last trip).

You start at the Bud Blancher parking lot which is quite expansive:

From here you follow the crushed rock pathway for roughly 1.5 miles. It is generally easy to follow without much elevation gain. At 1 mile you will come across a road which you need to cross to catch the trail on the other-side. It can be a bit confusing when you first approach it.

You will cross two wooden bridges over Little Mashel River:

About 100 yards after the second bridge turn take a left on the Little Mashel Falls trail. There is a small sign to point you in the right direction.

From here the trail becomes narrow, forested and will start to climb. Before making it to the waterfalls you will come to a trail junction which you will want to keep right. Currently there is a red sign to indicate the correct route.

Past this sign it is a short trek to the waterfalls. Each waterfall will have it own short trail which are marked by blue and white diamonds and a trail sign.

Lower Falls: This is a short stretch from the main trail and our second favorite waterfall on this trail. Early in the spring and winter or after heavy rain the water flow is even more impressive.

Middle Falls: Our favorite waterfall in this section and a great place to explore and take photos.

You can walk behind the waterfall especially later in spring and early summer. It can be intense in the winter and early spring.

Lots of beautiful photo opportunities. This one was taken a little earlier in the spring.