Pearl Falls, Glacial waterfall in Mount Rainier National Park, United States.

Pearl Falls is a glacial waterfall in Mount Rainier National Park fed by melting ice from higher elevations. The water drops dramatically over volcanic rock faces in a series of cascades that create a fine mist visible from certain viewpoints.

The waterfall was named in 1912 by a Tacoma photographer who observed how light reflected off the falling water in a particular way. This naming reflected what he witnessed during his visits to the region.

The name comes from Albert Henry Barnes, a Tacoma photographer who in 1912 thought the spray looked like pearls in certain light; Pearl Creek presumably took its name from the falls. The creek below the falls feeds Pyramid Creek, then Kautz Creek and the Nisqually River.

Reaching the falls on foot takes at least two days and is extremely difficult; there is no maintained trail to the base. Ricksecker Point on the Mount Rainier Highway gives a distant view without hiking. The falls lie in a steep canyon on the southwest face of Mount Rainier, so plan for talus and off-trail travel.

The waterfall emerges from Pearl Creek halfway through its course, falling over volcanic rock formations before joining Pyramid Creek and eventually the Nisqually River.