Snoqualmie Falls

Snoqualmie Falls is easily the most popular and most visited waterfall in the state of

And this is despite the Puget Sound Power and Light Company diverting some of the Snoqualmie River's flow for the purposes of hydroelectricity! Even though it's currently in a compromised state, it is still an awesome sight as it maintains year-round flow, and its volume and thunder probably surpasses other waterfalls we've seen in the state so far. Can you imagine how wild this 268ft waterfall would've been had it been allowed to flow freely?

I guess it shouldn't be surprising that this waterfall is popular because it's about a half-hour or so (depending on how bad traffic is) of driving from Seattle to get here. Plus, it's pretty easy to find and it's got well-developed walkways and viewing platforms to take in the falls from above.

We also went to the lower side of the large car park to hike the steep, roughly 1/2-mile to a lookout near the base of the falls. The lookout from here is not close enough to be bombarded with spray, but it is close enough to feel some of it if the flow is high. The different perspective from the river level is certainly worth the exercise and experience.

We actually visited this waterfall twice on the same day during Memorial Day Weekend on 2006. When we first showed up in the morning, the thundering falls was also shrouded in quite a bit of fog. I wasn't sure if the fog was weather induced or if there was some kind of meteorological quirk in the gorge that somehow Snoqualmie Falls caused. In any case, it wasn't the best of conditions so we left to do a hike, and then we came back here later in the morning when things cleared up considerably.

Update 8/26/2011! Julie and I along with our baby came back here five years later, but we were disappointed to learn that there was some serious construction and renovation going on. The main consequences of this are that access to the riverside trail and viewpoint are closed and there was a heavy presence of construction just upstream from the brink of the falls. The signs here indicate that it will remain this way until at least 2013 when the renovations are expected to be complete.

We then followed this road for the next couple of miles before turning left at the three-way intersection with 1st Ave SE (Hwy 202). Once there, it's just a short distance further past one intersection to the Salish Lodge car park on the left or the visitor parking on the right.

If you're parking at the visitor lot, you don't need to cross the road as there's a sheltered pedestrian bridge traversing over Hwy 202.

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The Salish Lodge car park five years ago

Sign indicating the car park hours

A stream gauge indicator from within Salish Lodge. This lets you know the flow rate of the Snoqualmie River.

A more recent close-up view of the falls under a warm and sunny day

Snoqualmie Falls in its foggy state when we showed up early in the morning in May 2006

Snoqualmie Falls in high flow when things cleared up a bit that morning in May 2006

Looking back at the walkway along the Snoqualmie River leading to the view of the base of Snoqualmie Falls

The falls from its base back in May 2006

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Fixated on the falls in motion. Note the construction above the falls. This is part of a bigger plan to completely renovate the area which currently impacts visitation. Work is said to be completed in 2013


Right to left sweep of the falls starting downstream then ending at the falls with a little zoom-in action for a closer look

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TRIP REPORTS

• August 26, 2011

GUIDEBOOKS / OTHER RESOURCES

NEARBY WATERFALLS

• Twin Falls

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