Lake Serene, Bridal Veil Falls — Saturday, May. 24, 2025

I imagine it was a busy weekend for hiking, no matter the trail. Lake Serene was no different. That said, given Lake Serene and Bridal Veil Falls' popularity and accessibility, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was one of the busier trails this Memorial Day Weekend. I turned off Highway 2 around 8:10 on Saturday morning, and uttered an audible “oh no” as I observed 5 other cars before and after me make the exact same turn. I knew what I was about to see, and recognized that I was officially part of the problem. The lot was 98% full; a few of the cars who took the turn along with me found spots – aggressive in their parking lot maneuvering, but I get it; sometimes you gotta be. However, that is not for me. After circling the main lot twice, I exited, and was one of the first cars to park in the second, “overflow” lot down below, by the other fee/permit signage area. As a heads up to all, there is a stretch of that forest service road leading up to the main lot that is a “No Parking” zone. The signs are very hard to miss. I avoided that, of course, but was a bit dismayed to discover that post-hike, upon my return, that section was at full parking “capacity.” My understanding is that section is reserved for emergency vehicles. I would implore folks to adhere to the parking rules—they are there for a reason!

At the trailhead, there are two bathrooms. Only one is open, resulting in a fairly long wait time. No toilet paper by 8:30, but very clean, particularly when considering the foot traffic present.

Starting the hike at around 8:30/8:35, I was reminded of the trail to Mason Lake, which I did a few weekends back. The first 1.5 miles of the Lake Serene trail is a leg warm-up: a steady, but relatively gentle, uphill climb to the Lake Serene/Bridal Veil Falls juncture. This part of the trail is flanked by a thicket of tall salmonberry bushes. Some salmonberries are just now starting the very beginning stages of ripening. There is a section of this first 1.5 mile trail segment that crisscrosses with a creek bed. I got turned around both times I encountered it, and ran into other folks who were struggling to figure out which way to go. For whatever reason, I was getting okay cell service, so I was able to check my positioning on Alltrails and figure out which way led “in” to the woods, and communicate that to the others who were equally as confused. Figuring this part out takes a little trial and error, but it’s not too bad, and could probably be done by visual inspection of the surrounding area only, without a map.

Lake Serene was my ultimate goal, but I knew that I had to do Bridal Veil Falls first, since it was still early and the falls was the shorter hike; I knew it would only get busier, so better now than later. It was a steep .5 mile ascent, but definitely worth it. I hit Bridal Veil Falls at around 9:30, and she was fully spittin’ and gorgeous. The descent was a little slow-going. The trail is narrow (and deep in places), causing ascenders and descenders to wait and jockey for access to the trail. Again, lots of folks on the trail Saturday morning. Back in the parking lot, I had observed one group of around 10-13 people assembling (multiple cars, friends meeting up for a group hike); I crossed paths with that big group during my descent from the falls, overhearing one person leading the baker’s dozen say, “wow, there sure are a lot of people on the trail today!” Yeah, well, when folks are coordinating group hikes of that size, it’s gonna get a little busy out here!

Back at the trail juncture, I took a hard right toward Lake Serene, which was my ultimate target for the day. I crossed by the lower portion of Bridal Veil Falls at 9:55, admired that for a hot minute and then started the ascent up to the lake at 10:00. Hoo boy, that trail up is a steep little ditty, climbing apprx. 1,500 feet over the course of 1.5 miles. Slow and steady is the name of the game here. You are switch-backing up an absolute mountain wall of a climb, made functional by well-built stairs (thank you trail crews!!). There were a couple of stair starts where I had to pull myself up onto the step base (I am around 5’3’’ for reference). This section feels never-ending, but you start to get to the end of the stair section once the old growth forest begins thinning out some and you hit a really gorgeous section of the trail that weaves through a thicket of vine maple. Stop around here and look east, and you can see the Wenatchee peaks and other Highway 2 peaks. There are still a few sections of stairs ahead, but know that you are making progress now.

The stairs eventually give way to a very rocky path. Here, concentration and sure footing are important—particularly on the way back down, when you have gravity working in the same direction you’re traveling. Once you make it to the rocky part, you continue on for a little while, winding between forested trail and exposed portions with glimpses of the Skykomish River winding through the valley below, and on occasion, views of Mount Index peaking out directly in front of you. Eventually, the path winds you left, and you hit the Lake Serene trail sign. Continue on to the right and Lake Serene is smack-dab in front of you. From here, the trail meanders west (right) along the lakeshore, across a bridge, and up (even more!) stairs. Eventually you reach the trail’s end at Lunch Rock. I reached Lunch Rock at 11:35, and plopped myself down to eat, while drying out my sweat-soaked half-zip. Many folks were posted up here, eating lunch, socializing, resting, and basking in the sun. It almost felt like a social affair to be surrounded by so many outdoor revelers chatting and appreciating a rest after the long climb up. A few brave souls jumped in the lake—although those swims were very brief, and I imagine very cold. It was all fun to watch. Lunch Rock is an incline, so it’s a good place to lay down and look up at the peaks above. During the 30 minutes I relaxed there, you could hear multiple rock/snow falls from the peak. I couldn’t spot them myself, but it was pretty cool to hear.

Around 12:10, I packed my things back up and started to retrace my steps along the lakeshore trail, drinking in the final views once and for all. I officially left the lake area around 12:20. The top part of the trail actually did give me some trouble balance and footing-wise. It is rocky, and increasingly wet/muddy as the day continues on. I had left my poles in my car, but wish I had brought them for this part. I almost bit it pretty bad at one point, but luckily caught myself. This section is not a place you want to fall. At this point in the hike, you’re pretty tired from the climb; so take your time going down and redouble your efforts to focus hard on your footing on the rocks in front of you. Plus, if you take your time, you’ll catch things you missed on the way up: during one such brief break to refocus my concentration, I spied what I later identified as Sunset Falls through the trees.

Similar to the trail down from Bridal Veil Falls, a good portion of your time navigating down from Lake Serene is spent jockeying on the narrow trail with folks on their way up. I’ve also never answered the question “how much further is it?” from hikers on their way up the trail more in all my time hiking. I tried to be encouraging where I could, but towards the end of my descent I just had to tell people honestly that they had quite a ways to go (but that it really was worth it). In all, It took me about an hour to get all the way back down to what I’d consider the start of the Lake Serene trail. I took another brief break at the lower falls to enjoy the sun and views of the waterfall before making my way back to the car. (At this point I finally cashed my water reservoir, which I tend to never really do.) Once the break was over and I started on my way again, I was moving pretty quick on the trail. I clocked about another 40 minutes of moving time back to the trailhead, where, no surprise: it was an absolute zoo, and cars were lined up and down the roads. Got out of there as quick as I could.

All in all, a great day and wonderful time taking advantage of the late spring weather. My takeaways for this trail would be: expect lots of people on weekends and exercise patience on the trail accordingly. It’s cool to see so many people enjoying the outdoors! (So long as everyone is being equally respectful of these valuable shared resources.) Bring hiking poles if you have ‘em, they would make the descent from Lake Serene a lot easier, and your knees will thank you. Or, at least curse you a little less. Pack plenty of water, and a lunch for Lunch Rock. Finally, take time to bask in the sun and enjoy the views once you’ve reached Lake Serene—you worked extra hard to get there!