The potholes are absolutely terrible on the way in.  Low-clearance vehicles beware.  Take it slow and it should be fine.

2 hours to the falls total.  Some blowdowns over the winter but easy to traverse.  Nice conditioning hike with gradual gain and a very nice payoff.  I do this at least once a year.

Trailhead: Got there at 8 am on a nice weekend day and was the first person in the parking lot, but by the time I was heading out there were 4 more cars that had pulled in. Bathroom was open and fully stocked. The parking lot was full when I got back around Noon or so. 

Trail: Was in very good condition, a few downed trees, but really nothing hard to deal with. Creek crossings were very low given how early in the morning it was and how little it had rained recently. I assume they probably got a little higher as the day heated up. But concerning little amount of snowpack seemed to be melting. It was the lowest I had ever seen the creek crossings around this time of year. When I got to Otter Falls I was the only person there. Stayed there 10 minutes or so and enjoyed the falls and lake before heading back down the trail onto Big Creek Falls. Didn't really pass anyone on the way out, but passed a lot of people on the way back who were heading out for the day. Some were going to the falls, some to Marten Lake, and one person was doing an early season backpacking trip to Snoqualmie Lake. 

Great day up the Taylor River. Want to come back soon to do an overnight trip to Snoqualmie Lake. Really want to do a point to point traverse from Taylor River to Lake Dorothy, but the logistics on that are tough. 

10 miles, 900 ft elevation gain, 3.5 hours of moving time. 

My first time going this far into the Middle Fork Snoqualmie hiking area and I’m looking forward to returning. There’s so much to choose from out there! I settled on trying to reach Marten Lake and then continuing on as far as I had time for along the Snoqualmie Lake Trail. In addition to the basics, I brought water shoes for potential tough water crossings, a change of clothes in case I got too wet, hiking poles, and crampons and traction cleats for potential snow and ice conditions. The only thing I ended up using was my spare socks when I stepped through snow into water near the lake and flooded both hiking boots. Consistent snow only appeared in the last third (about half mile) of the Marten Lake Trail, towards the end of the open brush area before returning into the trees. The unmaintained trail was easy to follow until that point. I initially followed bootprints in the snow and was excited when I saw a pink tape marker, but then the prints were heading off and down to the right when I read hikers are meant to stay left. So I used a downloaded maps app to make my way left in search of the original trail, which was quickly found. Some fun scrambling up rocks and roots. When the trail disappeared into snow, I only had my app to trust as there were no other prints to follow…just pristine snow. But my dog and I had some fun in the snow around the lake, if you call my postholing one leg up to my bum and having to dig that leg out fun. With the deep snow around the lake, it’s hard to identify the real access point. I just chose a line and tried to commit. So if you’re a snowshoer, you may have a much easier time with lots of access point options. The lake was beautiful and so quiet. On the return back to the main trail, it was easier to climb down backwards on some of the steeper portions of the trail. The hike next to Marten Creek is nice with the sounds of the running water and some peekaboo views of its own waterfalls. Once on the main Snoqualmie Lake Trail, my pup and I headed off to check out Otter Falls with Lipsy Lake at its base and then Big Creek Falls, making that our turnaround point. At Lipsy the sun was shining enough that I could see vegetation growing under the water. And Big Creek was impressive! I’m absolutely shocked that through this entire hike I only saw two other hikers at Marten Creek. At 11:15 am my car became the 7th in the parking lot, and at 6 pm it only had one other vehicle, a new one, as its companion. Stats: 12.9 miles, 2325 ft total elevation gain. All water crossings were low enough to have exposed rocks to step on today.

Trail was mostly dry, with occasional overflow from the streams running downhill towards the Taylor River. All streams and the Taylor and MF Snoqualmie Rivers were running at very high volumes of water, with the streams and Taylor River being almost all whitewater over their entire lengths. The MF Snoqualmie River was also running very high.

River crossings were sometimes precarious, with all of the streams running so high and lots of downed trees fallen in them or over them. What would, at other times, have been easier crossings were made more difficult due to water flowing over the stepping stones that would otherwise have been above the water line, so we had to cross with our feet submerged in the water over the tops of our boots. Trekking poles were very useful for doing these crossings.

Despite the crossings, it was a beautiful day and all of the cascading streams, and the sounds of flowing water, were marvelous. We saw one Varied Thrush, a beautiful bird whose population has been in serious decline, singing in the thick of the forest. It is a very enjoyable trail and I highly recommend it.

A great early-season visit to Snoqualmie Lake! Somehow, all of my wettest hikes ever have been on the Taylor River Trail, so I thought I would take this opportunity to hike it on a warm sunny day - it was awesome!

TL;DR: There is water everywhere on this trail right now, either bring high-top waterproof boots, or bring trail runners and just accept that your feet are going to be wet all day. Beautiful forest and scenic waterfalls abound. There is plenty of snow in the last mile to the lake.

TRAILHEAD: The usual potholes to the Snoqualmie Lake Trailhead, drive slow and you'll be fine. The bathroom at the trailhead is clean and stocked. There was only one car when I arrived at 8 AM, and I saw only four other parties on the trail all day.

SNOW: There is no snow below 2400', which includes Otter Falls and the entire Taylor River Trail to the junction. See further notes below in my Snoqualmie Lake trail section for details.

TO OTTER FALLS: The walk up to Otter Falls is through lovely forest with occasional views of the Taylor River and Mount Garfield along the way. It has the usual mossy rain forest vibe you'll find elsewhere in the lowland Middle Fork Trails, and being an old road, it has a very gentle grade with only little ups and downs. The bridge over Marten Creek (about three miles in) is a nice turnaround if you just want a short hike.

To get to Otter Falls, be aware that there are three decent water crossings to navigate, and many smaller ones. Poles are helpful, and if you are nervous about rock-hopping, you might even carry some water shoes and shorts so you can just wade through them. The levels will usually drop off in late spring, depending on the snow pack.

I hadn't planned to visit Otter Falls today, but I saw the bright white falls shining through the trees, so decided to check it out. It was quite nice with a large volume of water coming down the falls, glowing in the morning sun. This is a good turnaround for an easy day trip, though if you make it here, I would highly advice going 1/2 mile further up to Big Creek Falls.

Obstacles: There are 8 blowdowns on the way to Otter Falls. Almost all are stepovers except for one big one near Marten Creek, which has an easy detour. In addition, there are 21 stream crossings. As usual, the big three are the very first one just past Quartz Creek, then the crossings at Anderson Creek and Otter Creek. All three were doable with dry feet, assuming high-topped waterproof footwear. At Otter Creek, I recommend the lower crossing through the logs and the old culvert - the upper crossing is way too deep right now unless you fancy a swim! In addition to the water crossings, there were at least 10 or 15 places with water running down the trail, though these should lessen after a day or two of dry weather.

OTTER FALLS TO SNOQUALMIE / NORDRUM JUNCTION: The main attraction in this section is Big Creek Falls, where a sturdy concrete bridge crosses just feet from the falls. There was so much water coming down today that it was unpleasant to stand on the bridge due to the spray. Pretty impressive!

Obstacles: This section had 4 blowdowns and 10 stream crossings. The trail was in great shape, and compared to the other sections, there was not much water running on the trail. I cut out 3 or 4 smaller blowdowns with my saw, pretty much everything left is a step-over.

SNOQUALMIE LAKE: The proper trail, which isn't an old road, starts at the Snoqualmie / Nordrum junction. It's only about 2 miles to the lake, but there is a lot more elevation gain, and the trail is more rugged, so I would expect to go about half the speed on this section as you do on the Taylor River trail. And that's not accounting for the snow (see below).

This trail enters the Alpine Lakes Wilderness before too long, and has some nice big trees and lovely trail-side scenery. There is a nice view of Treen Peak at the washout near 2100', and a much better view as you approach the lake at about 3000'. It's a bit hard to see the trail through the washout, but it goes up from both sides to get across.

There is a huge waterfall (often called Nordrum Falls) in a gorge at the first switchback at 2350' - this is a great place to turn around right now if you don't want to deal with snow. The waterfall is raging right now and you can get up-close and personal with it (don't fall in!). The outlet waterfall at Snoqualmie Lake is also a sight to see, and it is absolutely raging at the moment. This isn't surprising with all the rain recently - the lake level is quite high at the moment.

In terms of snow, it starts intermittently at about 2400', and becomes continuous perhaps at about 2800. However, even once it is "continuous" it is melted out in places where the water is running down or across the trail. Near the lake, the snow is only about 1-2' deep in the trees, but out in the open it is more like 3-4' deep. The extreme warm weather the last few days meant the snow was super soft and unsupportive. It was Posthole City, population me, for the last 1/2 mile to the lake. I was frequently sinking above the tops of my gaiters, and occasionally up to my waist. Apologies to any snowshoers who plan to go up there soon, but I'm guessing this is not a frequent snowshoe destination.

Obstacles: The trail starts out with some large and ominous blowdowns, but fortunately most of the trail is in good shape. I counted 16 blowdowns to the lake, but most are easy to get over, with 2 or 3 requiring an easy detour or climb over/under. The stream crossings are a bit more numerous - I counted 29 of them, not including the spots where the trail is basically a creek bed, and there were at least 15 such places. Most of the stream crossings are not too hard to get over, but there was one that required a pretty large step / leap, and there was really way to do it without putting my foot on a rock right in the middle of the flow. There was enough flow today that it went over the top of my boot briefly. So much for dry feet!