When we called the ranger station and received a report of “Patches of snow, but completely passable”, we had no idea that this wording translated into 3-4 feet of snow-pack on the trail about a mile in and onward, and blow down like I have never imagined. We had intended to go the full 5 miles to the Concrete Bridge, but only made it to Marten Creek bridge, and that was a major effort without snow shoes…

The other factor was that the heat had created so much snow melt, that there were some dangerous water crossings to maneuver in the section of the trail preceding Marten Creek. I would say that the trail is totally passable, but even if you had snow shoes, you would be struggling over all of the blow down. Basically, this trail will need some massive clean up efforts to get it back to where it was back in November when I hiked it last.

The Middle Fork Snoqualmie road is snow free to the end so I expected the same from the Taylor River road/trail, but I was wrong. Patches of snow started right across the bridge and got deeper mile by mile and after 2 miles the blow down became frequent enough to be annoying. A lot of people have been on this trail so the trench is hard enough for boots, but gets soft in the afternoon and most turn around at Martin Creek judging by the boot tracks.

I had never been to Lipsy Lake and was hoping for tracks or flagging to indicate where to leave the trail. I didn't see any and we kept following tracks well past the creek that drains the lake. Soon enough it was obvious we were too far so we came back and found the lake and falls after a little exploring in the woods. It's the second significant drainage past the Martin Creek bridge, and the terrain flattens out significantly there. The guide book says there's a small sign, but that's either gone or still buried in snow.

We never made it to the trailhead because the 15 mile dirt logging road from North Bend to the trailhead was so full of potholes we had to turn around-- after making it only 5 miles in 45 minutes. I do not recommend this road (Middle Fork County Road 56) for anyone without a truck or SUV, and even those folks were seen turning around instead of continuing up the road. We hiked this trail last summer but there seemed to be far more potholes this trip...

Enjoyed a family hike (with kids ages: 7, 10 and 13) to Otter Falls. The Taylor River Trail is very easy to hike but, quite long and rocky. My 7 y.o. was a bit worn out by the end. They loved finding the ""hidden"" falls by the cairns marking the trail. It was like a treasure hunt! The falls are massive (and Lipsy Lake is very cold according to my 10 y.o.) The falls act as a natural waterslide. The kids didn't go up too far for sliding though, as it is fairly steep. They commented they felt like Spiderman while climbing up. Overall this is a fun, kid-friendly hike - especially for older children who can handle the milage. It was 7 or 8 miles RT. The road to the trailhead is your typical rough, gravel road. No trouble getting through. Follow signs to Snoqualmie Lake to find this location. No problems to report on the trail itself either.