We parked near the Salmon La Sac Rd road's end turnaround and put on our snowshoes at the split for Cle Elum Valley Rd (NF-4330) taking the left over the Cle Elum River bridge then past the Salmon La Sac campground to the Cooper River trail. Thin crust over powder makes for very slow going. We postholed approximating the Cooper River Trail only about a third of the way to Cooper Lake taking 2 hours, before stopping for lunch, turning around and making faster progress back along our earlier track. GAIA app was invaluable as always.

The After Hike beer stop was Bellevue Brewery. :-)

My first winter trip to one of my favorite summer/fall hikes. Parked at the nearest sno-park area to Salmon la Sac at 6:30 a.m. Walked the groomed road in just boots, making a pit stop at the outhouse (unlocked but NOT clean and no paper).

When I got to the Cooper River trailhead, I put on yak tracks for a little more traction. Snowshoes are not necessary and I didn't need poles most of the time. At about mile 3 (?), the well-established boot path just kind of disappeared. I backtracked a bit and tried to figure out if I somehow missed a turn in the path, but didn't see any more tracks at all. Then I realized I was looking at the aftermath of an avalanche that had erased the trail. I decided to turn back as I didn't see a safe way to get past it, even though I really wanted to get to Cooper Lake. This explains why the March 2nd trip report said the other end of the trail where it crosses the road hadn't been hiked recently...no one can get that far.

Saw someone who had camped off the trail a little before the avalanche last night. He said he hadn't made it past that point either. (The winter camping with his pup looked like fun but he said it was a cold night and I'm sure it was. It was a chilly 9 degrees when I started the hike!)

Stopped for a snack at a sunny spot overlooking the river and enjoyed this beautiful place in yet another season.

Got back to the road a little after 10 without seeing anyone else on the trail, but saw a bunch of snowmobilers who were just getting started at the sno-park.

Don’t be a doe-doe bird like us and stop short of the correct parking area for this Snowshoe. Go all the way to the end of Salmon La Sac Rd. It will be super obvious, as the plowing service ends abruptly. (Be sure to only park where there are posted signs so you don’t get a ticket. Rangers were in the immediate area.) 

We stopped about a mile or two short and parked near NFD Rd 46 because others were stopped there and we saw a porta potty. We ended up following a groomed trail for skiers and tons of snowmobile riders! Although it was fun to watch them zoom along the trail, and everyone was respectful and slowed down as they passed, it certainly felt like a race track at times. Our bad as this is a true snowmobile trail. 

We were parallel to the actual Cooper River trail, but on the opposite side of the river the entire time. We still had some great views of the river and surrounding forest, so we made the most of it. 

We were able to hike 5 miles and then cross a small bridge over the river. We found the TRUE Trail on the other side, but it was clear no one had crossed that path in some time. So we opted to play it safe, and turn back in the direction that we came from. 

This trail/road would be great for cross-country skiers.

As previous reported, snow level still holding on the trail. Much of the trail is thru the tress so watch out for snow melting off the branches over head but if no new snow this will not be an issue.  Started out at 9 am were the first on the trail.  Trail is marked and views of the river were beautiful.  Noted both skier and snowshoers using the trail.  We ran into several groups of snowshoers on the way in as we were leaving who were disregarding the trail signs to stay off the ski tracks and to stay to sides.  Also when we got back to the start of the trail noted many cars parked in the road turn around area clearly marked "no parking" and not further down in the clearly designated sno-park areas also most did not have out sno-park passes displayed, Illegally parked vehicles were making it hard for  a snow plow or vehicles with snowmobile trailers to to turn around their vehicles. Also would be hard for larger emergency vehicles to turn around.  Here is link to the trail map https://parks.state.wa.us/DocumentCenter/View/2233/Salmon-La-Sac?bidId=. Here is the link to sno park pass vendors https://parks.state.wa.us/147/Sno-Park-Permit-vendors

Beautiful day to snowshoe the Cooper River trail. Drive to the very end of the road (it was plowed and basically bare ) and park along side of the road before you get to the turn around at the very end. (if you park in the turnaround you will be ticketed.) You also need a snow park pass to park here.  The road at the end says "road closed" This is where you begin. You must walk along the groomed trails for about a mile before you come to the actual trail head.(please walk to the right side of the groomed road, and do not walk on the xc ski tracks). After crossing the bridge over the river, and winding around to the right, stay strait on the road (to the right) and do not go left into the campground. continue following the groomed road and at the next "Y" stay to the left and do not take the uphill road to the right with the gate across it, as this is another trail. Once you see the parking areas and outhouses near the river, stay straight again toward the river and you will see the trail head sign for Cooper River to the right. This is where the trail actually begins. Snow was a few feet deep so we got a great workout breaking trail. Views are beautiful along the river but beware of walking out to the edges (cornices) unless you want to go for a swim. (This is actually a popular swimming hole in the summer months with a rope swing too) The trail is steeper than listed, climbs uphill for several miles through the forests and up away from the river. We went about 3 miles in and then decided to turn around. You can continue on for about another mile or so however if you choose. We had the trail all to ourselves all day long. Great snowshoe with minimal avalanche danger.