Moran State Park - Cascade Lake, Moran State Park - Cascade Falls — Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022

I participated in a BCRT at Moran State Park from Wednesday 2/23 to Saturday 2/26 and we camped at Moran Camp so I decided to take in a couple of short hikes in our off time in the early evening on 2/23 and 2/24. Both trails are accessible from Moran Camp by following the "Trail" signs west toward the lake and through the South End Campground. Parking was not an issue since I was staying at Moran Camp and privies are available if you start the hike from the South End Campground. This is a Washington State Park so a Discover Pass is required. 

The Cascade Lake Loop trail winds around the lake and has several moderate ups and downs along the way. As of this writing, there are areas of compacted snow on the exposed areas on the trail but those will probably melt soon. There are also a few areas of mud and these are mainly on the north side of the lake. There are also a few trees down over the trail. I was able to step over most of them but one of them was large enough to require some creative maneuvering to get over. The trail ends at the day use area and if you want to complete the full loop, you need to look for the signs across Olga Road. The trail then climbs steeply up a hill, flattens out for a bit, descends back to Olga Road, and requires you to cross the road again to finish the loop at the South End Campground. 

The Cascade Falls Trail is also accessible from the South End Campground via a spur trail from the Cascade Lake Loop. Look for the sign that reads "Cascade Falls .9 Miles" and follow that trail. The route is a little confusing because there are several intersections and the trail crosses Olga Road once but if you follow the signs pointing towards the "Falls" you should be OK. Some parts of this trail are currently covered in compacted snow and this made the ascents and descents a little tricky but these areas will probably be melted out soon. Otherwise, the trail is in pretty good shape with only a little mud here and there. Near the falls there is a path to an upper viewpoint and a series of box steps down to a lower viewpoint allowing for views of the falls from different angles. Try to get to both viewpoints if you have time-it's worth it. From the falls, I returned to Moran Camp following the same route in reverse. 

My Gaia app measured the Cascade Lake Loop route at 3.5 miles and the Cascade Falls route at 3.8 miles round trip. It's always good to have a map of this area of the park since there are a lot of intersections on both of these trails. Here is a link to a downloadable PDF map. 

https://www.parks.wa.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1910/Moran-State-Park-PDF?bidId=