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Otter Falls is stunning. Truly breathtaking. A place which must be seen in person to be truly appreciated. Photos and flowery descriptions do very little for this place.
As we scrambled over the short, steep ridge separating the falls from the main trail, all we could say was, "Wow."
Two years ago, we tried to find Otter Falls, but we were thwarted! We'd read about the hike in Dan A. Nelson's book, Best Hikes with Dogs and we were excited for the challenge. But, driving out there, it wasn't long before we hit a road closure due to the heavy spring runoff (cue sad trumpet, "wah wah wah").
Last Sunday, however, where once there was a roadblock, there was now an open bridge crossing the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River and granting us access to the many gorgeous trails throughout the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest (cue victorious bugle call!).
The Taylor River Trail (aka Snoqualmie Lake Trail) begins beyond a small parking lot about a half mile off of forest road 56. Skirt around a gate blocking motor vehicles from going any further, cross a bridge over the Taylor River, and you're on your way.
The trail begins as remnants of a developers dream to build a road through the Taylor River Valley to Snoqualmie Lake--a dream that never fully came to fruition, thankfully. For the first mile or so, there's plenty of room for friends or couples to walk side by side, but it's not long before the wilds begin creeping in to reclaim the trail. Not that it becomes difficult, by any means. There are blow-downs, washouts, and slides here and there, but all are easily passed. The trail remains fairly broad and the elevation gain along this lush, lovely trail is quite minimal.
Along the way, we crossed numerous culverts and streams--plenty of opportunities for our dog Annabelle to cool off and get a drink. At about 3 miles we came to Marten Creek falls, a beautiful, terraced set of falls that roll over large rocks and under the newly rebuilt bridge we stood upon. It's a great place to take a break and stop for photos and it's an easy climb down to Marten Creek to explore the rocks or just sit and take it all in.
We've read many accounts of people completely "missing" Otter Falls. This is because if you don't know what you're looking for, you will simply keep walking and never know it was there.
At about 4.5 miles, stay on the lookout for two cairns (piles of rocks) off to the left side of the trail (to make it crystal clear, someone actually inked the work "CAIRN" on a rock at the base of each pile). Turn left here. There's not really a trail to speak of, you basically just scramble up the hill, through the trees, over the top, and then, this is where your jaw drops and something kind of like, "Wow," comes out. After a short descent through the bushes, we stood at the edge of the comically named Lipsy Lake--a somewhat small, completely inviting pool at the base of the falls.
Rising up from the pool is a 500 foot granite slab, angled at approximately 50 degrees--just steep enough that we were able to walk on it, though, very carefully and with bare feet. A friend who'd joined us on the hike used the lower portion of the falls for a water slide. He seemed to be having a blast, but we felt quite content sitting on the granite rock face, looking out over the valley at Treen Peak. Just, gorgeous.
It was a strange sensation, sitting on that rock face with all that water streaming down beside us. We kept looking over our shoulder, expecting to see a sudden surge of water aimed at our back.
Getting there: Take I-90 to Exit 34, just east of North Bend. At the exit, turn left onto 468th Ave SE. Turn right at SE Middle Fork Rd (NF-56) and follow it about 12 miles. You'll come to a bridge crossing the Taylor River, and following that, a junction where NF-56 veers right. Continue straight another half mile to a small parking lot where you'll find the gate, the foot bridge, and the trailhead. Northwest Forest Pass required. Fill out a permit slip at the trailhead.
Another photo, of our friend at the base of the falls, for a sense of scale:
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Holy shit. That "for scale" pic certainly does the job. What a great spot. Thanks for ferreting out Otter Falls, Jack!
Yeah, this has been a favorite hike of mine for a few years - and you are definitely right about people missing the Falls - you have no idea how many photos I've seen on the Internet labeled "Otter Falls" that are really Big Creek Falls. Big Creek Falls is about 3/4 of a mile past the turn-off for Otter Falls and is pretty cool in it's own right - partially because the Falls go under a concrete bridge - this bridge is another remnant of the "developer's dream" that Jack mentioned in his article. They make a great place to grab a quick lunch before heading back.