Trip Reports

Sunny wonderful day. No snow except on the surrounding peaks. Had the place almost to myself. Paved trail is in excellent condition and just a couple of pot holes on the road in.

It was a great day for the hike,although there was still plenty of snow on the road leading to trail head. Walked the trail around the lake but could not complete the loop because of snow.Will definitely go back in summer when the snow is gone.It is really pretty lake ,very scenic!

Gold Creek is a snowshoe area where you won't feel alone. Very popular but you can get away by taking the Gold Creek trail and heading up thru the valley. Snow conditions and the trail were in good shape. Sunny and mid 40's made a nice day to be out on the trail.

The trail was beautiful! Large family groups, kids and dogs were out in full force. The weather was perfect and it felt amazing to get out of the gray for a few hours. Wear layers, in the sun it’s pretty comfortable but if you are in the shade for too long the temperature drop is pretty significant. This trail is PERFECT for the beginner snowshoer. It was the first time my friend has been out, and she loved it. It’s an easy loop with lots of little trails around the lake, so you don't have the feeling of hiking in a herd. Parking is always a little crazy, just remember to drive slow and keep a lookout for wayward kids and dogs. Have fun!

Great snowshoe today at Gold Creek. The weather was perfect with blue skies and no wind to speak of. Got there around 9:30. Took us a while to get all geared up, but were on our way around 10. The pond was beautiful. Was surprised by how many people there were. Did have to get off the path once for some snowmobiles. Only negative would be that there was a surprising amount of dog waste on the trail. Come on people, if you are going to bring your dog, bring a bag & CLEAN UP AFTER THEM!

The Road past exit 54 from I90 towards the forest roads starts to have a snow layer. The Forest service seems to have paved it to a level that snow is just last layer of packed road. It has snow on the road , but i made it with my sedan poor traction car, so no worries. just don't brake fast in the snow, you will skid.

After you do 5 min ride on the snow, you reach the trail head, we did all of it without snowshoe with few postholing the trail is pretty packed.

We did it in 1 hr whole loop.

The snow is really fresh and compacted. nice trip overall.

We did see a permit sign for snow permits needed. but i just used my forest pass, looks like sno-park permits are now required.

The goal for today was to get out on the trail for some fresh air and not get our feet muddy. Gold Creek Pond turned out to be AWESOME for today, though I'd love to come back in the summer and see it against the blue sky.

The one mile path is PAVED around this manmade lake (used to be a gravel pit). POURING RAIN and totally FUN! It was cold up there, though and we saw a little (tiny) bit of snow, too. The lake itself is gorgeous and apparently quite deep. It was perfect because of the pavement-no mud. Even though we each had our own custom-trimmed garbage bag (!) we got pretty wet. Well, everyone except my daughter who enjoyed Gramma's umbrella.

The challenge was keeping the camera dry in the moisture-laden air, I'm going to have to think on that one. About half way around (we went counter clockwise), there's a peninsula. We walked out to the end. Gramma found a few rocks and the kids enjoyed "kerplunking" them into the water.

A few vine maples were in brilliant fall color against the dark hemlocks and gray sky. Super easy to find, vault toilets at parking lot. Easy, flat walk with beautiful scenery!

The color is at it's height now. The vine maple patterns are varied and simply amazing - yellow leaves with red veins, brown leaves with green veins, red leaves with green veins - simply awesome.

Lots of salmon in the creek.

We walked around Gold Creek Pond, and then continued onto the Gold Creek trail to the brilliantly colored slopes about 1/2 a mile in. We didn't go farther - didn't need to - we spend so much time enjoying the colorful landscape, and we were there to just roam, not do a big excersize hike!

THIS is THE place for fall color!

Great day for it, although still a little smoky from the forest fires near Wenatchee. Using a manual wheelchair there were just a couple of places where a bit of a push came in useful. It would be easily done solo in a powered chair. Saw 6 other people and 2 dogs enjoying the trail. Didn't take a picnic lunch with me but it would be a great place to savor one at the picnic benches on the shores of the pond. Great conversion of an old gravel pit and a wonderful location right next to I90 for a break from driving ; )

The completely paved trail is clean and smooth. A wheelchair or walker would have no issues at all completing the loop. It was a very pretty Friday evening and I only saw one other person.

  We drove over Snoqualmie pass from Seattle to do some snowshoeing despite the dismal weather. After crossing over the pass we encountered heavy slushy snow falling so we backtracked a bit and went to Gold Creek Pond where it was just cold enough to be snowing real snow. The road to the trailhead from the freeway exit at that time had 6 or more inches of snow on it- although a few trucks driving on it mashed it down enough to keep it somewhat driveable. From the trailhead we had to break trail to the pond, there was new snow over a firm base making a pleasant trip.
 When we got to the pond it was snowing lightly. We were surprised by the sight of a snowshoe? hare or jackrabbit in winter attire bounding into some trees in the distance. Then we realized he was being quietly followed by a bobcat (or lynx?)who stopped and stared at us and then skirted around us into the trees. After waiting a while with poised cellphone camera to try and get a shot without any luck we turned back down the trail and saw from some fresh tracks that the wiley bunny had crossed right behind us while we were distracted- which is why the bobcat seemed so interested in us!
  It turned out to be a much better day than we expected. the snow on the road had melted to bare pavement in places during the short time we were hiking but the snow was turning to drizzle as the day warmed up.
  On the return we stopped at the Library in North Bend where they have a new system set up for anybody to view and print recreation maps! thumbs up king County libraries

Snowshoeing in the fresh snow with sunshine - doesn't get any better.

After the temporary I-90 closure due to the dump of snow in the early morning, headed out to Gold Creek around 10:30. There was so much fresh snow that I put on my snowshoes right where the forest road starts instead of doing the usual walking on hard pack.

Followed the freshly cut trail around the ponds, stopping to bask in the sun for a bit. Snow lightly fell on and off. Got off the trail and cut my own trail to get up some sweat. Ran into only a few people around the ponds. Sun came out in force so when I headed home the roadways were dry and clear. Beautiful snowscapes to view on the drive home from the morning snowfall.

Although this hike was somewhat beautiful, it was extremely crowded. It took some time to find a parking spot, and when we finally did, we had to tromp through the snow for 1/3 mile to get to the trailhead. Lots of boxing day snowshowers, skiers, and sledders were hiking. It took us about 30 minutes to circle the pond. It is a very flat, easy showshoe hike. I recommend it to children but not for the experienced snowshoer looking for amazing views and solitude.

What a beautiful sunny day for a snowshoe hike. We had a late start so we headed to Snoqualmie and hiked up Gold Creek Trail. This is the trail that heads toward Alaska Lake.

The temps were in the low 30’s. As we began our first snowshoe hike of the season, we could hear the crunching of the hard frozen snow beneath our snowshoes. We hiked up the road until road’s end at Heli’s Pond. Here we hiked around the pond, before continuing up the maintained groomed narrow trail.

The trail climbs some along the base of the west side of Rampart Ridge. Scenary change as we left the road’s end in that we wandered through the trees , then into open spaces, and back into the trees. The groomed trail ended at Gold creek. Tracks continued up the creek, but this was our snack stop and turnaround point.

On the return we took the loop around Gold Pond. The sun was setting, giving color to Rampart Ridge, and a reflection in the Pond.

We hiked around 5 miles and gained just 600 feet in altitude.

We did not have avalanche danger as we did not hike deep enough up the trail.

The pond is an easy accessible hike. The area is really beautiful. I recommend it for a quick hike or a picnic.
See one of the photos I took here:
http://www.shutterpoint.com/Photos-ViewPhoto.cfm?id=882965

This is a go-to hike for my family, offering something for everyone. It's flat and ADA-accessible, making it easy for my toddler to walk the whole way by herself. It has water, which the kids love. And there are nice mountain views for my husband and me to enjoy.

It's hard to believe that this place was once a huge gravel pit for I-90 construction. It really is pretty. Signs still warn people not to fish or swim in the pond, so despite it's clarity, there is probably a fair amount of poison swirling about.

There are still a few wildflowers, but they are certainly past their prime.

And despite how easy it is to access this trail, there are very few people. I think it is because it is not written up in guidebooks. If you're looking for something leisurely with the children or with someone who can't walk far (or at all), this is a great place to go.

It's also my final hike for WTA's Hike-a-Thon. The number of hikes is more impressive than the mileage: 6 hikes with the children and one glorious overnight backpack with a friend.

I recommend this hike for anyone who may know someone with limited mobility. Rather they are in a wheelchair, use a walker or may have a hard time getting around this is for them! The trail around the pond is relatively flat with just a few tiny little ups and downs.I took 3 kids and my father who is an a manual wheelchair. There were only 2 spots along the trail that we had to give him a little push. This was so nice for my dad. The whole loop was paved or a boardwalk. There are plenty of benches along the way around the pond. The views all around the pond are gorgeous.
The picnic area is nice with an absolutely beautiful view. There was even a cut out on the picnic bench for my dad to wheel right up to instead of being at the end of the table, I thought that was so cool:-)
Remember the bug spray though!!

The weather and conditions were perfect for this short walk/snowshoe. Jumpin Jeff, Truckin Tom, Jamin Joani and Alpine Art all went on a short snowshoe tour of Gold Creek Pond. The day was without wind and warm but below freezing. The trail starts where the road to the summer cabins in the area begins adding about a mile to this walk. The snow was consolidated with about 1 to 2 inches of fresh snow on top - could have walked in our boots but the snowshoes were a great help for stability and preventing the occasional post hole.

We followed tracks around the pond and had no problems except for some narrow snow ridges on the two bridge crossings and a short steep slope near Gold Creek toward the end of the loop. The walk is a great one for an introduction to snowshoeing as it is easy and close to Pugetopolus .

Total mileage for the walk was about 2.5 with no real elevation gain (maybe 50 feet at most).

I took my old backpacking & photography buddy, Lee Trivette, who had a stroke a few years back, to the Gold Creek Pond today. We arrived about noon and had lunch by the pond. It was sunny & warm, but not too hot (it sure beat the upper 90s in Yakima). As we ate, some interesting clouds drifted over towards Chikamin Peak, which made for some nice photos. After lunch I took him around the pond in his wheelchair. It took about 45 minutes. Most of the flowers were past, but there weren't many bugs. Then we just sat by the lake and reminisced for a while. It wasn't backpacking, but it sure was nice to be out in the mountain scenery with an old friend.