Narada Falls is a 176-foot horsetail waterfall on the Paradise River in Mount Rainier National Park, Lewis County, Washington. It pours beside the road to Paradise, and the National Park Service classifies it the largest waterfall in the park accessible by car.
The falls
The descent features a 17-foot slide at the top followed by a 159-foot veil into a pool, though documented measurements also vary from 168 feet to 188 feet. The river drops over the edge of a young flow of hard andesite lava that abuts much older rock. Because the Paradise River is fed by snowfields rather than glaciers, the water runs clear instead of milky. The falls flow all year.
Getting there
The parking area sits on the Paradise Road about 17 miles east of the Nisqually Entrance and a mile below Paradise, with room for cars, buses and RVs, accessible flush toilets and picnic tables. The top of the falls is visible from the lot and from the stone-faced bridge over the river. A steep trail drops 200 feet in 0.2 mile to the lower viewpoint, 0.4 mile round trip, and continues on to the Wonderland Trail and the Lakes Trail.
Mount Rainier admission is $30 per vehicle for seven days, paid by card. No timed-entry reservation is required anywhere in the park in 2026.
When to go
Park staff commonly close the lower trail in winter due to snow and hazardous conditions, while the upper pullout stays open all year. Ice on the trail can last into June and early July. In winter the waterfall develops about 150 feet of icicles that attract ice climbers.
On site
The trail to the lower viewpoint is paved but steep, often wet and slippery, and not wheelchair accessible. At high water the spray blows straight at the viewpoint, so expect to get soaked. Pets may stay in the parking lot but aren't allowed on the trail. In June 1990 two park concession employees walking near the falls fell into the river and were swept about 100 yards downstream; one was rescued with broken legs and the other drowned. Stay well back from the river's edge.
History and name
The falls were once called Cushman Falls. The Narada Branch of the Theosophical Society of Western Washington gave them their present name during an outing to the mountain in 1893. A first bridge crossed the river here in 1908; the present arch bridge, faced with granite, dates from 1928. In the 1930s the Civilian Conservation Corps enlarged the parking area, and a heated comfort station made the site a winter recreation stop until a wider Paradise Road opened in 1958. The bridge and comfort station were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
Nearby
Tahoma Cascades is about 0.2 mile away and Washington Cascades about 0.3 mile, both on the Paradise River; Lower Deadhorse Creek Falls is about 0.9 mile away on Deadhorse Creek.
Distances are straight-line.