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Snoqualmie Falls Hike
Snoqualmie Falls is a popular tourist destination in Washington for several reasons. It's close - only 25 miles outside of Seattle. The falls are highly accessible thanks to access provided by Puget Sound Energy. The trail leading from the park entrance down to the boardwalk along the river is reasonable for most hikers to manage. The site is also the location for the Twin Peaks series from the 1990's.
In the past, Snoqualmie made a more interesting destination for kids because you could walk on the rocks along the river bed and wade in the shallow pools created between the rocks. Today, the path to the water is restricted to power plant employees only, requiring visitors to remain on the boardwalk path that ends in an overlook of the base of the falls.
Heavy foot traffic makes Snoqualmie Falls an unlikely place to spot any wildlife, but something may surprise you. On our trip, slugs were the only thing brave enough to venture out of the underbrush. Best to avoid Snoqualmie on the weekends when tourist traffic is at its peak. Still this is an easy path to break in younger hikers to the idea of hiking. You may encounter a few other kids to keep your son or daughter's mind off the trek up the hill and a loud and impressive waterfall is encouragement to keep walking to a good viewing spot on the boardwalk.
The park is also a good place to test drive your photography skills. My most recent shots are posted on Flickr.
Posted by Jake at June 22, 2005 12:02 AM