This was a really pretty winter hike! We didn't have a final destination in mind, rather just the goal of getting outside to enjoy the winter weather and snowy views. We hiked ~3 miles total on this trail.
We brought and used our snowshoes, but the trail was well-packed with a decent crust so microspikes alone would likely have been plenty sufficient. We hadn't done this snowshoe before and there are a number of social trails near the bottom of the hike, so it was helpful to have a map on our phone available to start. Once we got on the main trail up to the basin though, it generally was quite straightforward to follow where to go. It was really nice to be hiking among the frost-covered trees with the sound of running water nearby. The sun hadn't yet burned off the clouds and fog while we were hiking so we didn't have too many distant views, but you could really appreciate all the up-close icy details.
Parking: as noted more clearly on the Commonwealth Basin Snowshoe page of the Mountaineers website, parking for this hike is shared with the Summit at Snoqualmie. We arrived around 9:45/10am and the main resort parking lots were understandably full. We didn't feel comfortable parking along the road under the obvious "Toll Zone/No Parking" signs though many were doing so, but further up the road there were still legal spots available (and the slightly longer road walk was totally fine).
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