Hiked On: December 29, 2004
Weather Conditions: Rain and approximately 40°F
Elevation: 650-1500'
Distance from Seattle: 46 miles
Pictures: Too much rain for the camera
State Park: Wallace Falls State Park
Diann & I picked up this hike also based on a recommendation from the same book as we used in the last two weeks' hikes ( Winter Hikes in Puget Sound & the Olympic Foothills: Mostly Snow-Free Trails from Lowland Forests to Summit Views , ISBN 1570611491). The hike was approximately 6.6 miles round trip on a moderately difficult hiking trail and a very level and easy former rail grade. The trail splits about a mile in and allows you to choose to follow the more difficult hiking trail or the rail grade. The rail grade is quite a bit longer than the hiking trail, but is a very light walk. We walked the hiking trail up to the falls, and followed the rail grade down. The trail follows the river up and has three awesome views of the various bits of Wallace Falls — Lower Falls, Middle Falls and Upper Falls (obviously creative waterfall namers here). It took us approximately 1 hour to get to the trailhead from Seattle and about 3 hours of hiking to do the round-trip.