Every time we do the Lodge Lake hike I think it’s going to be a lot longer than it actually is. From the trailhead, it’s about 2-2.5 hours round trip if you don’t stop much. But Lodge Lake is one of my favorite Snoqualmie Pass trails especially for the first half an hour-I don’t even mind if we don’t make it to the lake. It has sweeping views of Guye Peak and wildflowers in the summer time. And if you’re a little afraid of being in the forest you can see a bit of civilization below for the whole first part of the hike too.
And there is even a chairlift on the weekends in the summertime
Because I especially like to hike the first part of the Lodge Lake trail and I’m pretty terrified of chairlifts and elevators, you probably won’t ever catch me on the chairlift (unless it’s when the mountain biking here opens) but I think it’s a great idea if walking up the hill feels daunting. The Summit at Snoqualmie started running this last summer and it’s nice to see the chairlift running here again this season. The Summit also has music at the base in the summertime and food trucks. Laconia Market is also across the street-I love their Stokes Bowl and if you forget a sweatshirt and need one you can buy one at the Eve store their too. And Commonwealth and Dru Bru are a short walk or drive away and have great meal options. I think this would be a great place to come from Seattle if you’re traveling here for a visit from outside of the Pacific Northwest and want to get a feel for the nature we live in here just an hour from the city.
And if you want to work from the mountain and try this hike to break up your day?
You can get a day pass at the Passlife Workspace a new work and event space right across the street from the bottom of this trail. It’s perfect because they have all the things you need to conduct business but are right in the heart of so many adventure possibilities. The work area is light-filled and spacious and full of many different areas where you can have meetings or work solo or even exercise on their Peloton bike or even have a shower (I was surprised to find out they have shower facilities but I think these will really come in handy when there is more mountain biking at the Summit at Snoqualmie too).
And how do you do the Lodge Lake trail exactly?
If you look up the Lodge Lake Trail I think it starts at the trailhead for the Pacific Crest Trail but you can also just walk up the trails you see starting at the bottom of the mountain and avoid another forest-y part which is what we usually do. The PCT part probably adds about half a mile to what we did. (but I’m not sure so make sure you check the hike out on Washington Trails or another reliable source. We weren’t sure how long the trail was after hiking for nearly an hour and checked google maps and it said we were 8 minutes from Lodge Lake but it ended up being about 15 minutes.) You need a Northwest Forest Pass and make sure you check the weather and trail conditions before you go too. I most recently did this hike solo with my two 13 year old boys and I forgot our first aid kit and it bothered me the whole time.
PS Snow Lake Trail is closed from July 2022-October 2022
This hike might also be a good one if you were planning on going to Snow Lake and find out it is closed and still want to hike a bit without driving too far away. It’s not Snow Lake by any means but it’s still a great hike with easy parking and a lake at the end. Snow Lake will likely be closed until October 2022 for trail maintenance.
Do you have a favorite hike in the Snoqualmie Pass area?
(PPS. our other favorite place in the area is not really a hike but more of a mostly paved, sometimes wooden bridge surfaced trail through around Gold Creek Pond and it’s a perfectly Pacific Northwest feeling spot. I probably post about it at least once a month on my instagram and I’ve written it up here about a million years ago.)
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)