Taylor River - Otter Falls — Sunday, May. 28, 2000

Snoqualmie Region > North Bend Area

Another prettier than expected hike. This trail is along an old road that doesn't look like an old road after the first half mile or so. Find the trailhead up the Middle Fork Snoqualmie road (not too bad and seems to have been recently graded in the middle) and then a short bit left on the Taylor River Rd to the end. The trail crosses the Taylor River on a big bridge and follows a road for a short bit until the Quartz Ck Rd heads off to the left. The trail continues straight and from this point on, you had to look closely to tell this was an old road. This was a lovely hike through moss covered trees with some very pretty creeks. There are some very impressive smooth rock cliffs with waterfalls and waterslides all along the way. The wooden bridge at Marten Ck is showing its age with holes punched through. It's still safe to cross, but you'll want to pay attention and when this bridge goes, it will be difficult if not impossible to cross. The crossing at Anderson Ck was running high enough that I waded, though there was a route across involving some wet logs that looked too slippery for me without my walking sticks for balance. We passed the cairn/rock arrow indicating the Otter Falls trail and continued another short mile to the crossing at Big Ck, another impressive creek with the water sliding over the smooth rock. There's a substantial hole on the far side of the bridge that could be dangerous if your attention is on the creek and not where you're stepping. We turned around shortly after and went back to Otter Falls for lunch. This is a very impressive falls over the smooth rock cliffs and down into Lipsy Lake at the bottom.