| Kautz Creek | |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | United States |
| Subdivision Type2: | State |
| Subdivision Name2: | Washington |
| Subdivision Type3: | National parks |
| Subdivision Name3: | Mount Rainier National Park |
| Length: | 6miles |
| Source1 Location: | Kautz Glacier, Mount Rainier |
| Mouth: | Nisqually River |
| Tributaries Right: | Pyramid Creek, Pearl Creek |
Kautz Creek is a tributary of the Nisqually River, flowing from the Kautz Glacier, with its watershed in the Mount Rainier National Park of Washington. It drains southwest from Mount Rainier for about 6miles before it joins the Nisqually River near Mount Rainier Highway. It is notable for being a severe flooding hazard due to the volume of summer glacier melt and its frequently changing course. The 400feet Kautz Creek Falls on the headwaters of the creek was formed by the retreat of the Kautz Glacier in the past 50 years.[1]
Kautz Creek was named after A. V. Kautz, an army officer and mountain climber.[2]
The channel of Kautz Creek is very steep and narrow, because it has eroded through the relatively soft material that the lahars and mudflows have deposited. The creek flows in a trench that is 100feetto200feetft (toft) wide and up to 75feet deep, and its course often changes during floods.
The creek is notorious for its history of severe floods and mudflows. On October 2 and 3, 1947, heavy rains triggered a jökulhaup (glacial lake outburst flood) from the Kautz Glacier- the largest flood after the establishment of the park. The flood (similar to a volcanic lahar) moved 40000000m2 of earth and boulders of up to 13feet in diameter for 6miles. It buried the Nisqually-Longmire Road under 30feet of debris, and carved a canyon 300feet deep. Other large debris flows have occurred in the Kautz Creek watershed in 1961, 1985, and 1986, with small debris flows occurring more frequently.[3] The creek also jumped its banks in November 2006, destroying parts of the Kautz Creek Trail.