This was a gorgeous day for a hike along Taylor River and up to Otter Falls. Arrived at the parking lot around 9am. A lot of fair sized potholes on the last half mile of the road but not too crazy in a  Subaru Forester.

First time hiking this trail for me but one of our group had been several years ago. First portion of the hike is an old road and wide enough to walk 3 abreast. There were a couple of wide water crossings that required either good balance or walking sticks to stay dry. I went with the sticks and that made crossing them very easy.

Found the new turn off to the falls and really enjoyed the new trail that switchbacks up to Lipsy Lake and Otter Falls. There was a great view of the upper and lower falls at the top of the stairs leading down to the lake.

Two people from our party of three waded in. Water was very, very cold. Not quite hot enough to want to jump in all the way but very tempting.

Round trip was 9.02 miles according to the All Trails App.

#Hikethestate

This is a great cool hike for a warm day - it mostly stays in the shade and near water. The multiple waterfalls provide some spray to cool off, and Otter Falls, has what amounts to a nice wading pool of very cold water. The only significant sun exposure is the last half of the Snoqualmie Lake trail.

The Taylor River portion of the trail is mostly flat and easy. That said, there are a couple of creek crossings that require rock hopping, and the Otter Creek crossing could be a challenge. One group I ran into apparently turned back there. 

It looks like the spur trail to Otter Falls is brand new. Definitely different from the last time I was up here. There were five people at the falls on a Wednesday.

The Snoqualmie Lake portion was also fairly easy, but again complicated by water crossings. Most of these are easy, with the exception of the last, right near the lake. The trail goes to your left up the hill and the creek currently runs over it. There's a false trail straight ahead. If you have GPS, it's more clear, but if not, look for cairns running uphill. There's also a somewhat messy blowdown between there and the lake, but not hard to cross.

Mileage up to the lake looks intimidating, but the mostly easy grade makes this a doable day hike. This would be an amazing overnight destination though since there are a couple of other nearby lakes to explore. The few folks I ran into were mostly trail runners. One woman lugged a packraft all the way up and was out in the middle of the lake. I encountered only 4 people on the Snoqualmie Lake trail.

Beautiful day and wonderful hike! Hiked to Big Creek Falls, stopping by Otter Falls along the way. Total 10.7 miles. Trail was in great shape - mostly dry. There were a handful of creek crossings, but many were not much more than a trickle. A coupld of the creek crossings requied rock hopping, with the crossing near the cut-off to Otter Falls being the most challenging - although, even that one wasn't too much to worry about. The turn off the main trail to visit Otter Falls was clearly marked and that short trail was in fantasitc shape - kudoes to the crews that fixed that up. The old bridge that crosses the creek at Big Creek Falls also has a large concrete curb, which made for a wonderful spot to sit and eat lunch while enjoying the sights and sounds of the falls. All in all in great hike. I'll go back to this one someday.

The road getting to the trailhead was a bit rough was the paved road ends. I understand why the WTA write up suggests high-clearance vehicles. My Forester had no issues. I did see a few sedans near the trailhead when I left in the afternoon, so it's passable with lower clearance cars, but I'm sure they bottomed out on many of the potholes in the road.

I got to the trailhead at 8:30 a.m. and had no issues finding a parking spot. I left around 1:30 p.m. and there where a few parking spots open, with a line of vehicles parked down the roadway a bit.

The trailhead restroom was clean and fully stocked with TP in the morning and still pretty clean and mostly stocked when I returned in the afternoon.

Started from the trailhead on the Middle Fork side. Snow free until Deer Lake, then patches of snow but didn’t feel like microspikes were needed. Be mindful of higher water levels with the snowmelt. Made it halfway around Deer Lake before hitting my turnaround time and a flooded trail.

Otter Falls was pretty great, well worth the 0.5mi or so detour from the main trail. The signed trail wasn’t marked in Gaia, so watch for the sign. Looks like a fresh trail, or at least recently maintained.

The creek crossings until the wilderness boundary weren’t too bad, no need to get wet. Trail is nice and level.

Starting about 0.75mi from Snoqualmie Lake there were 3 tricky creek crossings with swift water. I didn’t get wet but spent a fair bit of time picking a route I could leap across with my long legs. The first 2 would be a little far for someone shorter to stay dry, at least while the creeks are running high. I could see a simpler route, a couple inches underwater… The third crossing had a lot of options with rocks spread out. One route was marked with cairns, with the water level up I preferred a different route. The cairns were very helpful finding the trail on the other side after going up/downstream looking for a better crossing.

There were a couple large downed trees but all of them had clear routes around them.

And the lake… was beautiful! A couple backpackers at campsites but otherwise serene with calm blue waters. 18.5mi RT, 2700ft elevation gain including the bit out to Deer Lake and detour to Otter Falls.

Arrived at the trailhead at around 10am.  More cars in the parking lot than I was anticipating for a midweek hike but still plenty of room for all.  Last time I did this hike I parked by the Garfield Ledges trailhead which made the hike a bit longer.  This time I drove all the way to the trailhead and was glad I did - there are plenty of large potholes but if you drive strategically you can straddle or avoid most of them and shorten the "road" part of the hike (which is already long enough!).  The bathroom at the trailhead was reasonably clean and stocked with TP.

The trail has plenty of water crossings - definitely passable without poles but they sure make it a lot easier.  I would not classify this as a wildflower hike but I did manage to spot some bunch berry, mountain bluebells, and fairy bells in addition to the plentiful bleeding heart and star-flowered lily-of-the-valley.

The turn off to Otter Falls is now very obvious and the new trail is extremely easy to follow. I really love how the trail switchbacks to the left before you crest the hill so you get peek-a-boo view of the falls through the trees as you approach them!  The new stairs down to Lipsy Lake are also a very cool addition.

Last time I did this hike it was mid-August so I was definitely pleasantly surprised by how much more active Otter Falls is in the spring time.  I also recommend walking the extra half mile (each way) to check out Big Creek Falls if you're up for the extra distance.

10.6 miles, 4 hours 15 minutes, 950 feet elevation gain