Parking lot was almost full at 7:45 AM, got one of the last spots. Definitely plan on arriving early if doing this one on a weekend! Trail was crowded but friendly hikers with good trail etiquette.The first section of the trail is a long stretch of berry bushes (salmonberry?) full of ripe berries. There are some water crossings, none of them are too difficult. Fun hike up with steps on the steeper inclines. Some rocky trail sections but not bad.We encountered one downed tree over the trail but it is easy to get over it. The falls are roaring with mist falling on the trail. The steps alongside the falls are a misty shower - very lovely on a warm Summer day. They are quite muddy as a result so, if hiking with a dog, definitely will be in dog bath territory after the hike! The view is glorious but we didn't linger because so many people were on the trail and we wanted others to enjoy as well. On return, police were marking cars to be towed. DO NOT PARK ON ROAD - they were all being towed! Many people left poop bags on the trail - not okay! I can only hope that they picked them up on the way down.

The parking lot was already at 9:30am and after returning in the afternoon it was absolutely packed with cars lining the forest roads.

That said, on the way up the trail was never too busy. Went up to lake serene first then made a pit stop to bridle veil falls on the hike out. The trail was generally pretty steep with many stairs and large rocks to climb. Even though it started raining a little during the hike I did the whole thing with dry trail runners which was nice.

On the way down the trail was packed. Lots of large groups sitting in the middle of the trail and generally not practicing good trail etiquette though so I’d recommend doing this one during off-peak hours/days to avoid that. The falls were roaring today too, but again, too packed with people to really enjoy them.

This was one of the most spectacular lakes I’ve seen in Washington, and with the early-season accessibility, I will definitely return here again and again.

Bridal Veil Falls is a great hike that's achievable for young and old alike, with a great reward of a roaring waterfall at the end.

We went on Memorial Day and arrived at 11:30am to an extremely full lot, with 2-3 cars already circling to find a spot.  All the side roads were also full, and we parked about a 10 minute walk away on Mt. Index River Rd.  It seemed like a far place to park, but there was a little shortcut that gets you from the road to behind the bathroom in the main parking lot. Lots of people were parked in no parking areas.

The hike was relatively crowded, but still very enjoyable. However, I did see a young couple knocking down fungus from a tree with a stick. Please don't be like them.

There were small, manageable patches of mud and 1 or 2 downed logs across the path, otherwise it was a pretty straightforward hike. Thimbleberry bushes crowded on both sides for much of the trail.

Not too busy given it was Monday morning. We started around 10:30 and finished in 2.5 hours (eating lunch at the top). Falls were raging, but the streams (creaks?) were not very deep and were easy to cross. There were some larger puddles but nothing you couldn’t get around.

We paired this with a hike up to the nearby Haybrook Lookout to make for a fun and adventurous day. The trail is a moderate grade for the first mile then climbs sharply up a series of steep wooden staircases on the second half. The upper falls are raging right now after the recent warm-up so getting close to them for a picture will result in wet clothes and a wet phone. There is an abundance of flowers lining the trail... bleeding hearts, miners lettuce, spring beauties and salmonberry blooms just to name a few. Mosquitos were noticeable but not too bad... yet. It's just the beginning of the dreaded mosquito bite season.