Snoqualmie falls near Seattle

An ideal getaway, Snoqualmie falls is just a 30-35 minute drive from Seattle. No wonder, the place is crowded on weekends and a parking place can be so difficult to find. The fall is 268f feet high and  pretty wide even though much of the water from the river upstream is diverted to the power plants. The drive to Snoqualmie is short and sweet with the fall colours omnipresent on the route. But, Snoqualmie can get pretty cold and if you are planning to walk down to the falls, better be prepared with warm clothing!

The moment you enter the first viewing platform, the waterfalls look impressive. You don’t get to see the entire river downstream from this platform. For that, you have to go a bit further where you see the “official” viewing platform easily identified by the scores of people packed into a small space!

If you have the energy and the interest, you can walk down to the bottom of the falls (almost) through a short trail. The distance is not that much, but the trail is pretty steep at places and can easily sap out your energy on the way up. The trail goes through thick forests and the greenery is awesome.

There were people kayaking on the river downstream and from time to time they approached the base of the falls. From more than 20 metres away, the spray from the falls was damn cold. I can’t imagine that these guys were trying go almost under the falls.

Once you go down to the bottom of the trail, you reach a dead-end at the viewpoint. Of course, you can jump over the boardwalk and go closer to the falls. I have heard that you could jump over, but there was no one outside the board walk when we reached there. So, i was discussing with Lokesh about this. A girl standing next to us overheard us talking and told us that it was okay to go ahead. So, off we went and immediately, scores of others followed! Looks like everyone was waiting for that someone to be the first!

Once you get down and manage to clabmer over the slippery rocks, you not only get to see the waterfall, but also to feel its force!

If someone ever said that the rocks are slippery and they won’t come down to the bottom of the falls, show them the picture below. Two little girls, i guess not more than 3-4 years old had a free rein at the falls and they were epxloring every nook and corner, of course under the watchful eye of their parents. That was pretty courageous of their parents!