I parked the Sprinter van in the Hyak parking lot and started my walk. It's about a half mile from…read morethe lot on a trail that is smooth and easy as it is a decommissioned rail track. After about 5 minutes and around a bend, there it is. It's a giant hole in the mountain. Freezing cold even in early October with a stiff breeze pouring out of the tunnel and yes, it's completely dark. There is no way I'm going more than 30 yards in without a flashlight, a second flashlight and a THIRD flashlight. It's DARK. Constructed between 1912 and 1914, it was part of the rail line from Chicago to Seattle. It saved a whole lot of train troubles going over the mountains with this 2 mile long tunnel that is part of the Iron Horse Trail. It's a crushed rock trail so no problem for walking or biking. [Review 20853 overall - 110 in Washington - 1837 of 2023.]

This park is super quiet. All that is here are trails. There are some trails that use to be part of…read morea railroad. You can walk through a tunnel in part of it. There are some campsites along the trail. You'll have to carry all of your supplies in.

Area is permanently closed as of May 2025. I had the opportunity to enjoy it the last month before…read moreit was closed in April. The pond is going to be permanently closed to help restore the bully trout population. Beautiful alpine blue waters surrounded by mountains. A great place for a picnic. The trail is not well kept and has some holes in some of the wooden walkways. Watch your step! Also spots can be quite slick where it has melted and frozen over again. The access road is also slick and most folks parked on the main road and walked the extra 0.6 miles to get to the trailhead.

This time the trash wasn't everywhere but some people decided to toss their trash in the one vault…read moretoilet which was utterly disgusting. The boards on the path along with the wood are a bit worse for wear and need to be replaced. The lake today along with the glorious fall weather was breathtaking though! Just be sure you pack it in and pack it out gross humans!!!

$5 day pass that u can purchase at the self-service station by the parking lots. Plenty of parking…read morein the lot. Safe to park here. Easy trail to Franklin Falls, which is such a beautiful sight that reminded me of Hawaii. Even on the"heat advisory" day in Washington state, it was still chill by the water. Pretty on the route to the waterfall, too, with the green foliage and washed-over rocks. Even going to the falls itself was easy, despite the slippery rocks because staggered in a way where you have somewhere to hold as you go up or down. Just a good time and not at all an overwhelming hike. Recommend to those who want a chill stroll. Took about 45 minutes to get from the parking lot to the falls, and I was not even trying to pick up my pace. Definitely come here if you tryna do something outdoorsy for even just a little bit.

DO NOT google maps to Franklin Falls Trailhead. It will lead you to a ski resort. Instead map to…read moreFranklin Falls. It's a two-mile hike, but it felt much longer! After Snoqualmie Falls, Franklin was a little underwhelming. It is an easy hike as it is mostly flat. The waterfall is nice, but nothing compares to Snoqualmie.

After having read/heard about the snowshoe walk that Snoqualmie Falls Park offers, a group of us…read morefinally went and had our chances to snowshoe for the first time at Snoqualmie Falls Park. The rangers at the Snoqualmie Falls Park Visitor Center were very friendly and helpful. You could tell they love the nature and love showing off how amazing and beautiful the nature in the Pacific Northwest is! Our 90 min (the walk was actually free, but with a suggested donation of $15/person) snowshoe walk was scheduled at 10am and the weather happened to be perfect! It was sunny, not too cold...and clear sky! :) Very beautiful! The walk itself was not too strenuous...as it was just a mile walk (although it involved going up and down the hill a bit...so if you are taking someone senior, make sure they are comfortable with walking...a couple people brought their own snow/walking poles too!). There was so much snow (and even a thick, fresh layer of snow when we went!) even though it was already getting into Spring in early March. From what we found out, the walk that we did was on the snow that was 5-6 feet above the ground...how amazing was that! We started off the walk with how to put on snow shoe, then did a little race to get us more oriented into our snowshoe, did some nature walk and ended with time for some photo / snowball fight opportunities. If you are interested in the snowshoe walk, I highly recommend calling and making reservations ahead of time. They only offer free walks on weekends and only in Jan-Mar and even though we called almost a month ahead of our scheduled, the tours were very much booked (although there may be a few spots open up because of last min no-shows if you happened to get lucky). This snowshoe nature walk is a great, very fun experience for anyone (family and/or friends) and a good, short trip away from Seattle!

Did the photo snowshoe hike led by Chuck Davis on Feb 15 . http://alpinescenes.net/biography.html…read more The snow was coming down pretty hard and the cloud cover was low so not great photo ops but Chuck was terrific and prepared with thoughtful lessons on composition, histograms, etc - he covered a lot of territory and was very knowledgeable. He was warm , friendly, entertaining,and professional. His walk really had a great blend of nature, photography and safety education. He took us off trail a little which was great and we tried to find the elusive snowshoe hare. The caboose ranger was Hailu who was very nice, friendly and professional. I always felt safe and able to ask any questions or let them know if I was cold or working too hard. They were very aware of how people were feeling and ensured a pleasant time by keeping a good pace. The staff in the office was also terrific - all of them. I called several times in advance with questions and if it went to voice mail, they ALWAYS called me back - WOW! Don't get that much anymore. You can tell they love what they do and want the best for the patrons. If you have never tried snowshoeing before they'll provide you with free snowshoes, poles and only ask for a donation. It is a great safe environment to go tromping including younger ones. Highly recommend for beginners or not. http://snowshoeingsnoqualmiepass.wordpress.com/ Our trip was in Commonwealth Basin and I think it was about 3 mi roundtrip - pretty easy exercise, but some uphill. I think it ended a little early because we were getting a little chilled. The photo walk is not very aerobic so be prepared with layers to do some stopping for discussion, lunch and picture taking.

Again, down the dirt road. On a Saturday it was crowded! Like holy cow! Arrived just before 9:00 am…read moreand was able to secure a spot in the lot. Thankfully I have a small car and can fit it into tight spaces. Discovery pass will not work here! Scan the QR code and pay $5.00 for a day pass. Or a northwest forest pass will work. The beginning is steep. With lots of stairs. You will begin to hate the stairs. Then just before you want to give up you've made it! A lovely well maintained trail. Parts of the trail go through clearings with views that give a view to just how high you are. And views of past gigantic rock slides. The weather at the lake today was cold. No snow on the trail but a bit on the mountains above. But it was cold! My hands started to hurt because it was so cold. After a brief picnic sitting on some logs with trout swimming below our feet we head back down. A back and forth hike just over 7.4 miles. Lovely!! Enjoy life. SYOY.

Annette lake is beautiful and so serene. I arrived May 17, Saturday at 9:30am and there was still…read moreplenty of spots in the lot. 8.8 miles, 2,150 ft of elevation gain and 4hrs out & back. There's a bathroom available but it smells very bad so I recommend going before the trailhead. 0.2 miles in theres the first viewpoint, a beautiful waterfall. There is still some snow at the top but you can make it without spikes or trekking poles. The lake is still partly frozen and the snow makes it even more serene. 10/10 would recommend this hike!!

Pleasantly surprised with the beauty! It was quiet and very little visitors. During our COVID…read moreStay at Home order in full swing, this mini- getaway was much needed. We chose to visit in the middle of the week; and beat the heat from E. WA! There is a $5 fee -- cash/check accepted. We will visit this place again! We can certainly use a break from time to time!

Such a fun place!…read more This sno-park is on the opposite side of the road from Hyak. We arrived just shy of noon and it was pretty packed. Parking would have been free if I'd remembered my Discover Pass, but as I forgot it, it cost me $20. People were generally friendly and good about taking turns. The hills were not too steep, and my little ones were comfortable going up and down without much hand holding. Bathrooms (porta-potties) were close to the entrance, and the summit us just a short hop up the pass if you desire a nosh. Definitely a great way to spend the day!

Came on a Saturday morning about a quarter past 8AM, parking lot was already full so we parked in…read morethe parking lot across the bridge, walked back to the trailhead on the street. Hike was pretty shaded for a long time, wasn't very steep, lots of runners, saw some backpackers / campers (PCT'ers?). Not the most polite backpackers that we saw though, which surprised me. Went up Kendall Peak after reading directions on how to find the intersection; the path was just a quarter mile up to the top, path was narrow and super steep, a bit rocky as well but totally worth the climb, the view was AMAZING, 360 views, beautiful weather. Back on the PCT, the trail went back up a bit until the Kendall Katwalk, which was quite beautiful and was a different perspective than the peak. Hiked to Ridge Lake and Gravel Lake, the former which was small and didn't have many people, the latter was a bit bigger but not very pretty. Not much of a mountain view at either one, water wasn't too cold, lots of mosquitoes though, bring repellent. Not many people at either lake which was nice, not many people overall on the trail. Hike down wasn't too bad, total was a bit long though, definitely recommend!

Whoooot!! My new favorite hike around the Snoqualmie area! With no true summit, Kendall Katwalk is…read morea narrow pathway with stunning views! Difficulty: Moderate (mainly because it was so long) Round trip: 11-11.5 miles Elevation gain: 2600 ft Time: 2.75 hours up, 2.25 hours down Drive: Very easy and straight froward. Right off exit 52 on I-90. Parking: The Pacific Crest Trail main parking lot that can fit around 50-60 cars. Very popular trail so come early. I came on a Tuesday morning at 9:00 am and there were already about 10-15 cars parked. Trail: The trail is in pretty good shape. Numerous of wild flowers blooming. The hike starts off at Pacific Crest Trail parking lot and into the sheltering forest. Some parts of the pathway are pretty narrow and surrounded by lots of lush overgrowth. The beginning of the trail has a very gradual mild incline. After about 2 miles, the trail splits into two junctions with a sign for the Commonwealth Creek Trail. You will stay on the right side heading upwards. There are a couple of small stream crossings. The trail then opens up into an open talus and into a rocky terrain. The trail starts to pick up a little with a moderate grade incline. There are switchbacks but some are not well defined. Around 4 miles or so, the trail starts to get narrow circling the side of the mountain. Amazing views everywhere! Kendall Katwalk is a well defined narrow pathway with huge rocks lining the edge. There are two open areas on each side of the ridge to relax and enjoy the scenery. If you keep following the trail for another 1-1.5 mile, you will reach Gravel and Ridge Lake. I didn't bother to keep going, 11 miles round trip was already pretty long to me. Lots of trail runners! Bugs: Bring bug spray. I got bit 4 times by annoying mosquitoes. Tips: The last two miles are very exposed. Be sure to bring sunblock! Overall, this trail is pretty easy and straightforward. The overall incline was very gradual and not very steep. *Northwest Forest Pass required*

This was a nice little find. We got here late as my sister had to take her son to this de's appt…read more By the time we got to Seattle, it was already 1 pm. Once the entire family met up, we climbed back into the car and headed to Bellevue. Not sur if it was due to the time. But we were surprised there was a lot of parking available. We spent a good 2-hrs here which included getting lost and finding other street entries into the botanical park from a school and from other busy street corner at the bottom of the park. Nice and shaded, quiet little creeks, plenty of seating for those that were inspired to journal, plenty of elderly people using this time to exercise and stretch. We enjoyed the different areas like the swinging bridge, the Japanese garden and even the little cafe they have there. Fairly priced items and plenty of tables to enjoy a refreshment and snack. By the time we were done, the gift shop was already closed. So I took the opportunity to drop a donation into the box instead.

The Bellevue gardens is a pretty quiet and secluded little spot to relax and take in some nature…read more It's not a huge place, but it's big enough that you can spend an hour or two there, casually strolling about. No trouble with parking, and it is free to enter, so you really should stop by if you are nearby. It's worth it.

Parking lot was full when we arrived but there's plenty of side pull offs to park. The FS road was…read moreactually really nice- only really large potholes at the start. The trail was a bit muddy and damp in some areas but totally manageable. Kids said there were some bugs but I didn't notice any. There were a handful of other hikers on the trail but not too bad. We didn't notice any poop bags or trash- good job people with pack it in pack it out!!! Once we arrived at the lake there were only a few hikers relaxing and enjoying the view. The lake is so clear and was so tempting to jump in but waited for another trip. There were some stones and roots but most of it was quite pleasant and we found the hike back down to be way less brutal than most hikes with some kind of elevation. It was giving me Yosemite vibes with the large rocks and mostly dry path. There was a pit toilet at the parking lot but didn't use it. It states the Discover pass is not valid there- had the national parks pass posted. The noise of traffic could be heard off in the distance but by the time you're at the lake it's completely gone and you're just vibing with the sounds of nature. Will be back again to take a dip in the lake and soak up more of the views. Hiked 6.22.2023

This hike is really catered to family friendly hikers. With that being said, it's a pretty easy…read moreand very light elevation and switch back gain. The only downside is that it can get packed, quick! Be mindful of parking. All in all the lake is gorgeous!! I highly recommend coming early and leaving early, by mid afternoon this place is packed to the gills! The views are gorgeous and you cannot take a bad picture. Enjoy!