Snow Lake is one of those places where its almost a disservice to it to have it so easily accessible, because the scenery is really top caliber, but the value of seeing it is somehow diminished by the fact that you start getting some of the good parts (views of Unicorn Peak) very quickly after leaving the parking area.
It was a dreary day when we visited, which made it a good day to fit in some of the smaller stops around Rainier while saving the big places for the clear days. I was worried about parking here, with the lot being very small for the amount of people the park gets, but we grabbed a spot around mid-afternoon.
As I've already alluded to, the hike is short, and the elevation gain isn't great, but you'll still have quite a few sections of decent grade uphill that will get your blood pumping on the way to the lake. The first part of the trail is wooded, but you do get to some open meadow where you get views of Unicorn Peak and other ridges looming far overhead. A rock to the left provided a good view of other mountains, and I'm sure on clearer days you could see Rainier quite well here, but there was no hint of the massive mountain through the clouds on this day.
We stopped by Bench Lake on the way, and while I'm always one to explore the side trails and stuff, the path to Bench was so overgrown that I'm surprised it was even noted with a sign. When we reached the lake (really just a pond), the exposed mud made it obvious that water was low, yet there was almost no room to move between the brush and the water. The path down was also rather steep and slick. Maybe on a clear day you get something to see behind the lake, but even though the side path is incredibly short, I can't say its a worthwhile side trek. If not for the presence of other trails named Snow Lake, this one could safely drop the "Bench" from its name as few people, save for a couple fishing (and apparently not catching anything), were visiting this one as is.
Many many undulations later we arrived at Snow Lake. Though supposedly the main trail goes to the right, the whole reason for visiting this lake lies to the left in the camping area. In little time you'll come across a rock with an elevated, but still rather narrow view. The real view requires crossing the narrow log bridge across the creek, as well as some brief moments of rough trail. From here you'll reach a peninsula with a sweeping view of the lake with stunning Unicorn Peak rising into the sky behind it. Even on a cloudy day, the water was brilliantly colorful and absolutely shimmering. Had it not been so dreary, I would have loved to swim here, but the conditions on this day didn't really make me want to hop in the water. Farther along at the second campsite, you'll get more views of the lake, and these are nice but aren't quite the feature view you got from just earlier.
Knowing that this was just the campsite area, and not even the main trail, I was excited to explore the rest of the main trail. As it so happened, at least on this day, there really wasn't much reason at all to visit the main trail side of the lake. There was nothing exciting like Unicorn Peak across the lake, and while I thought you might be able to get close to the base of Unicorn Peak (and some snow still on the ground), the trail became woods not far from the official end, and you could really work along the lake shore either. I could have not visited this entire portion of the lake and still not missed anything, save for satisfying my own curiosity.
Even though not having views of Rainier from anywhere along the trail, I still rate this as a 5 star, albeit short, experience. The scenery around the lake is simply that impressive. When I had to evaluate going to Rainier instead of the North Cascades, owing to the wildfires that cut off my route around Winthrop, I had marked Bench and Snow Lakes as a must-do and a real reason to see Rainier. Snow Lake lived up to that, and the thought that it could be even better on a clear day is awesome.
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