Gold Creek Pond Snowshoe, Gold Creek Pond — Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016

Snoqualmie Region > Snoqualmie Pass

This is an easily accessible hike perfect for a introductory snowshoe, or warm-up hike for the season. Being 4 miles long, this is a relatively fast hike to do while still giving great views surrounded by frozen ponds. Ridges and peaks rise up on either side of the trail creating the majestic scenery. We left the car at around 11:30 and finished by 2:30. However, we hiked around 5 miles instead of 4. The trail begins off a road which parallels the freeway. It was very crowded there with big groups of first-time snowshoers getting ready. At this point, the trail follows an access road for a while before coming on a trail head for Gold Creek. Keep in mind that Gold Creek Pond and Gold Creek Trail are not synonymous. On your left shortly after leaving the car, there is a turn off toward Gold Creek Pond. There is a short loop around this pond and that is where the majority of the crowds go. We did this extra loop in addition to The Gold Creek Trail to reach 5 miles in total. Going straight on the access road past gold creek pond, the number of snowshoers is substantially less. The access road weaves through private estate but clearly marked signs point towards the trail-head at all forks in the road. The entire access road is completely flat and very wide. Eventually, at the end of the road, there is a trail-head and the trail begins to climb. The trail meanders through patches of trees until you climb out into a huge talus slope. Here, there are stunning views of the ridges on either side. The trail crosses this slope which includes multiple snow-bridges over streams. The trail then enters more trees and the path narrows. There are more glimpses of the views on either side and the trail eventually becomes hard to follow and quite narrow. There is no clear ending to the trail. Overall, this was a nice snowshoe hike to get some exposure with the outdoors.