snoqualmie falls.

Snoqualmie Falls is a waterfall located east of Seattle on the Snoqualmie River between Snoqualmie and Fall City. You might recognize the falls as they are best known for being featured in the television show Twin Peaks (but don’t ask me where because I didn’t watch that show).

I took a trip out here in July. The falls did not seem as powerful as some of the pictures I’ve seen of them – I believe that in the spring when the snow is melting and in the early winter months when it is more likely to rain, then the force of the falls is greater. Nevertheless, it was still amazing to view.

There were a fair number of people at the falls. There are a couple of different parking lots you can park in – the paid lot or the free lot across the street. We lucked out and were able to find a place to park in the free parking lot. We arrived a little before noon however when we left, there were many more cars coming into the parking lot – I would recommend trying to go as early as you can to guarantee a place to park.

We walked across the street through the sky bridge to the falls. There is a little gift shop that has trinkets and food and coffee.

We then walked over to the upper-level viewpoint, which is at the high point of the falls. There are numerous places to take some good pictures. After we got our pics, we saw a sign pointing to the lower viewpoint. The sign indicated that the lower viewpoint was through a trail that was approximately a half-mile long. We were game so we ventured out onto the trail.

The trail starts out on a concrete walkway and then quickly turns into a dirt path that winds its way through the forest. There were times when the trail was so steep I wasn’t sure how we were going to get back up it. I was amazed as I saw people pushing strollers on that dirt path – I would not have brought my stroller on that. If you do decide to hike to the bottom I would recommend wearing closed-toed shoes as there are a lot of loose rocks on the trail. There are also places to park at the bottom of the trail so if you can’t make the walk, you can drive down and park.

We finally made it to the bottom of the trail to see the lower viewpoint of the falls. You can also see one of the hydroelectric power plants that is located at the base of the falls.