Rattlesnake Mountain
If you've hiked to Rattlesnake Ledges and beyond from Rattlesnake Lake, this is a delightful alternative. Thanks to the handiwork of our colleagues in the trail community, you can now reach Rattlesnake Mountain from the west, starting from a new trailhead at Snoqualmie Point.
Expect more solitude on this approach, and enjoy the fantastic views out over the Snoqualmie Valley, Mount Si, Mount Teneriffe, North Bend and more. You can choose to hike to one of the pleasant viewpoints along the way, to Rattlesnake Mountain, or as a traverse all the way to Rattlesnake Lake (11 miles). The views are some of the best in the Cascade foothills and the trail can be hiked year-round, though it can be snowy in winter. The trail was officially dedicated in June 2007, though people have been hiking along a mix of trail and logging roads for years. Now the trail winds its way through mostly second-growth forest, crossing a few logging roads and requiring just a few stints on old roads. The trail follows I-90 fairly closely, but there are times you don't remember that it is there. Still, the reality of being in a managed forest does intrude - you do see and walk through clearcuts. Fortunately, the forest canopy does get more mature as you go, and there is a delightful progression of ecosystems along the way. The first nice viewpoint is Stan's Overlook, about 2.5 miles in (elev. 2100'). You'll pass under the powerlines and continue gradually upward another 1/3 mile to an obvious signed trail to the left. Stan's Overlook has a picnic table and two benches. From there you can see Mt. Si and the Snoqualmie Valley. Next up, and a fine turn-around for those not traveling end-to-end, is Grand Prospect at about 4.9 miles. This precipice is due south of the town of North Bend. At six miles and 3500 feet is the high point of East Peak - great views abound from here! Then it is downhill to the Ledges (8 miles) and ending at Rattlesnake Lake (that is, if you've cached a car here). This trail system is the result of thousands of hours of hard work by trail crews from Washington Conservation Corps, EarthCorps, and Washington Trails Association (WTA's handiwork was up to the Ledges from Rattlesnake Lake), all jointly managed by the Mountains-to-Sound-Greenway and DNR. If you see a crew, please take the time to thank them! Both trailheads (east and west end) require the state's Discovery Pass.
Driving Directions:
To Snoqualmie Point Park: take I-90 east to Exit 27. At the end of the off-ramp, go right and follow the road to the end. Go through the gate on the right to enter the trailhead. Straight ahead is a separate parking area for Snoqualmie Point. Recent Trip Reports
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Rattlesnake Mountain, Rattlesnake Ridge Trail
— May 11, 2013
— Katrinaf
Day hike
Issues:
Blowdowns | Snow on trail
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I finally found a friend who had a car available so that we could cache a car at both ends of the tr...
I finally found a friend who had a car available so that we could cache a car at both ends of the trail and do the full hike between Rattlesnake Ledge and Rattlesnake Mountain. We dropped a car off at exit 27 around 8:20 AM and started out hike at the Rattlesnake Ledge trailhead around 8:45. We moved pretty quickly with very few brief stops and got to our car at the end of the trail in a little under 4 hours. There was a little snow along the ridge, but nothing difficult - you might have trouble in just running shoes, but I had hiking boots on and no poles and didn't have a hard time at all. The trail is pretty easy to follow (a few blow downs between East Peak and Grand Prospect) and we didn't run into too many people between the Rattlesnake Ledge lookout and Grand Prospect. I definitely recommend walking East to West, as you'll be doing uphill for a steeper, shorter, distance, but the a longer, easier downhill.
Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
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Two of us hiked the 11 miles from Rattlesnake Lake to Snoqualmie Point, leaving a car at each end so...
Two of us hiked the 11 miles from Rattlesnake Lake to Snoqualmie Point, leaving a car at each end so we could hike just one way. At 11am the ledge was still socked in, but halfway between there and East Peak we emerged under pure blue skies. Frankly I liked the view from East Peak more with clouds below than I did last time when it was clear and I could see the exurbs in all their glory.
Snow covered most of the last mile on the east side of East Peak as well as most of the first half mile on the west side. The snow was often around 3 feet deep so it should be there through the end of May. I was glad to have poles although it would have been survivable without poles, and we didn’t use the traction devices that we had with us. There were a couple of navigational challenges heading west down from East Peak. About 15 minutes after East Peak (it will be more like 10 minutes once the snow is gone), there is a sign for the trail forking to the right while the road you’re on stays left. However, the sign is set back about 20 feet from the road and partly obscured, so watch for it. Also, about 40 minutes after East Peak (more like 30 minutes after the snow’s gone), there is one section of the trail that’s hard to follow as it’s got lots of debris. However, you basically continue straight and in a minute or two the trail will become obvious again. I think this hike would be less fun from west to east, as you’d have a long, gradual climb followed by a pretty steep drop. There were lots of wildflowers during the second half of the descent into Snoqualmie Point. Total hiking time at a good pace was about 4 hours 15 minutes plus stops. Day hike
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Snow on trail
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I had never been above the first ledge on Rattlesnake Mt., so I decided to go early and try to beat ...
I had never been above the first ledge on Rattlesnake Mt., so I decided to go early and try to beat the crowds as best possible. I got to the trailhead at 7:45 but there were still almost 20 people on the first ledge when I got there. It soon started to fill up, so I headed up. The third ledge affords a nice view of the two lower ledges and a better view of Chester Morse Lake. I went as far as East Peak. The last .7 miles was nearly solid snow covered. My hiking poles saved me from several slips that would have been falls otherwise.
Day hike
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I had never been on either of these hikes. It was a beautiful day to be in Washington.
Rattlesn...
I had never been on either of these hikes. It was a beautiful day to be in Washington.
Rattlesnake Mt Pros: views close not Mt. Si cons: short traffic most of it is in the woods not Mt. Si Twin Falls is a great little hike. There is a nice lookout that I took pictures from of the falls. A little ways farther you can stand above the towering falls and see the ones above the largest. These two hikes together makes for a nice day hiking the I-90 corridor and get the mountain views and waterfalls.
Rattlesnake Mountain
— Apr 27, 2013
— HikingDawg
Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
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Great weather to hike, trails dry, lots of spring flower blooms! Watch out for car prowlers, we saw ...
Great weather to hike, trails dry, lots of spring flower blooms! Watch out for car prowlers, we saw at least 3 parking spots with broken window glass. Don't leave valuables in your car.
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 Winter view from Grand Prospect. Photo by Snowfoot.
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