About Franklin Falls
Franklin Falls is a powerful and mist-throwing waterfall right underneath the I-90 highway by the scenic Snoqualmie Pass.
What stood out most to us about this 70ft gusher on the South Fork Snoqualmie River was its popularity.
Upon visiting this waterfall, we could appreciate why this excursion attracted crowds.
After all, we went on a roughly 1.5-mile well-maintained trail (at least 3 miles round-trip) that pretty much followed along the South Fork Snoqualmie River as it was lined with cabins nestled in a cool, evergreen forest.
About half-way up the trail, we encountered a lookout with an intermediate waterfall called the Denny Camp Falls according to my surveyed Gaia GPS map.
Besides, it probably also benefitted from being close enough Seattle and its suburbs, and couple that with the fact that we made our June 2021 visit on a Saturday morning.
Of course, popularity means lots of people, and made us a bit nervous during our visit due to the COVID-19 risk.
There’s a mix of masked and unmasked visitors, and with the threat of increasingly contagious variants of the coronavirus, that made us seek alternative ways to do this hike, which I’ll get to later.
Hiking to Franklin Falls via the Franklin Falls Trail
From the main parking lot (see directions below), we actually had to backtrack about 1/4-mile to get to the actual Franklin Falls Trailhead, which was right across from handicapped parking spots and just past a busy restroom facility.
Once on the trail, it immediately skirted alongside the rushing South Fork Snoqualmie River while generally climbing.
Roughly a half-mile along the trail, we encountered a fenced lookout revealing the bottom part of the Denny Camp Falls, which also flowed on the South Fork Snoqualmie River.
Beyond this waterfall, the trail continued to skirt above the flow of the river while revealing more cascades and rapids (many of which were unseen or difficult to see through overgrowth).
At about another 3/4-mile beyond the Denny Camp Falls lookout (or roughly 1.2 miles from the actual trailhead), we encountered a signed trail junction with the Wagon Road Trail.
There was actually signage at the park recommending taking the Wagon Road Trail back to the start, and we kept that in mind when we would be coming back from Franklin Falls.
At roughly 0.1-mile beyond the Wagon Road Trail junction, we finally descended towards Franklin Falls, which was quite crowded because there was very limited viewing space.
The trail actually kept continuing along a narrow and slippery ledge alongside the South Fork Snoqualmie River thanks to spray from the base of Franklin Falls, but just about all people (myself included) went no further into the spray zone.
It took us around an hour to get from the trailhead to the Franklin Falls, which was about average given the relatively easy, family-friendly trail (for the most part until the viewing area at the end).
However, on the return hike, we did have a choice of going back the way we came or taking the Wagon Road Trail, and we ultimately opted to do the latter.
Returning from Franklin Falls via the Wagon Road Trail
The Wagon Road Trail was a more “inland” forested route that hugged closer to the one-way Franklin Falls Road than the more scenic South Fork Snoqualmie River.
For that reason, we found the trail to be delightfully peaceful and quiet because it lacked people.
Therefore, we were better able to breathe the air as we didn’t have to breathe through our masks, and for that reason alone, I appreciated the forest service’s advice on doing the loop hike in this manner.
At roughly 300ft from the trail junction between the Franklin Falls Trail and the Wagon Road Trail, we encountered some trail signage, which also happened to be near the one-way Franklin Falls Road (NF-58).
The presence of this entry point to get to the waterfall suggested to me that if we had the foresight to park this far along the NF-58 Road, then the hike might only be as little as a quarter-mile round-trip!
That said, since we saw nobody do this (even though it was suggested in the Gregory Plumb book), I suspected that the authorities might have prohibited parking here.
Nevertheless, continuing on the Wagon Road Trail, we pretty much went gently in a downhill direction among a well-shaded grove of tall trees.
At about 0.6-mile from the Franklin Falls Trail and Wagon Road Trail junction, we would traverse the NF-58 Road (there was white paint in a pseudo-crosswalk pattern) to continue the trail.
We’d encounter yet another similar road junction another 1/4-mile or so before continuing down the final stretch as the road paralleled the NF-58 Road.
Finally after roughly 30 minutes or so of doing the Wagon Road Trail, we ended the hike pretty much right back at our parked car, which was only a few paces from the third intersection with the NF-58 Road.
Indeed, with the relatively easy hiking, well-shaded terrain, and gushing river, this hike seemed to be the perfect antidote for the heat wave that the Pacific Northwest was about to face the following weekend of that trip.
Authorities
Franklin Falls resides in the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest near Snoqualmie Pass in King County, Washington. It is administered by the USDA Forest Service. For information or inquiries about this area as well as current conditions, visit their website.
Related Trip Reports
Related Top 10 Lists
No Posts Found
Related Itineraries
Trip Planning Resources
Nearby Accommodations
This content is for subscribers only. See Membership Options.Featured Images and Nearby Attractions
This content is for subscribers only. See Membership Options.Visitor Comments:
Got something you'd like to share or say to keep the conversation going? Feel free to leave a comment below...No users have replied to the content on this page
Visitor Reviews of this Waterfall:
If you have a waterfall story or write-up that you'd like to share, feel free to click the button below and fill out the form...No users have submitted a write-up/review of this waterfall
Nearest Waterfalls
