Snoqualmie Falls with the Fam Trip Report 6/20/14

Today we headed to Snoqualmie Falls to see the 268 foot waterfall. My brother had mentioned that he wanted to do this while we were in town, so we met up with him and his family at the start. 

From my parents house in Mill Creek, it took about 50 minutes taking I-405 to I-90. Not a horrible drive to see something pretty cool. We met up with my brother at 10am and parking was easy to find. I believe the earlier you go, the better chances for parking at the top, plus it being a Friday gave us even better chances of finding easy parking. We parked across the street from the falls. From the parking lot there was a nice pedestrian bridge to walk across and the kiddos enjoyed running across it.

After crossing the bridge, it takes you directly to viewing areas of the Falls. The Salish Lodge & Spa is to the left, which I hear is a very nice hotel. You can also use the restrooms in there although there are restrooms close to the bottom of the Falls at the new Lower Parking area as well. I really liked how there was lots of informational signs at the top and even along the trail.

Here is a view of the Falls from the top.

There are lots of great photo opportunities at the Falls. Here's a family pic at the top. It was actually pretty misty at the top, as water from the falls was misting up to us.

After taking a bunch of pics, we headed down to the trail to see the Falls from below. 

 The trailhead sign.

We hike down through the forest

to the Plant Two powerhouse. It was originally made back in 1910 to meet the growing demand for electricity in the area and it still continues to produce electricity.

I thought it was pretty cool that it still produces electricity. 

Here's a cool shot of the kiddos with their cousins in some old pipe.

After this part, we came across a boardwalk that took us to the Lower Falls viewpoint. Note: the two pics below were taken when we headed back up, I'm showing them so you can get an idea of the boardwalk.

Here are the kiddos at the Lower Falls viewpoint. I had been to the Falls before, probably 7 years ago and think it is nice that they made the boardwalk, but you can no longer get down from the viewpoint. I remember being able to get down and at least get close to the Falls and walk around the rocks. Now you can no longer do that. The best way to get down is a door that is locked and I'm not sure if they even open it. Kinda a bummer, but great for safety especially for the kiddos.

Snoqualmie Falls from the Lower Falls Viewpoint.

In all, it's a great short family hike down to the Lower Falls Viewpoint. I believe it is about 1.2 miles out and back, so it was perfect for the kiddos. It was pretty easy going down, but a little tougher for the kiddos going up as in some sections it was steep. Great views of the Falls, so it is definitely a must see!