Miles: 18+ miles RT
Elevation Gain/Highest: 3400ft/5000ft
Map: Green Trails Stevens Pass No. 176 and Skykomish No. 175
My favorite places to stop post hike with friends are: Grilla Bites, Route 2 Taproom and Grazing Place, Good Brewing Company, River House Cafe, Espresso Chalet, Gustav’s, Yodelin’s Broth Company, South, Dan’s Food Market, or just Pack A Cooler. You can learn more about these places in my Must Hike Must Eat Eating Out Guide.
Find out current conditions and as always, practice Leave No Trace. Pretty please.
Hike Details:
Popularly known as the East Fork Foss River Trail, the Necklace Valley Trail is a 9 mile trek that starts along the East Fork of the Foss River towards the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and Necklace Valley. The first 5 miles are relatively flat and offer several campsites with views of the river rushing by. At the 5 mile marker the trail crosses over the river on a log bridge and begins a steep, unmaintained ascent to a series of lakes and the climbing route to Mt. Hinman. The trail can also be extended into the Necklace Valley loop by continuing on to the West Fork Foss River Trail but navigation and route finding are required. Most folks safely do each separately as day hikes as the trailheads are within a short driving distance from each other. This is a trail that sees heavy use in the summer so expect crowds on the weekends.
My hikes:
2/17/2024
You can read more about my hike on Spring Is Surely On Its Way.
4/21/2019
I went in hope of maybe a little snowshoeing up the East Fork Foss but the fact it was snow free to the trail head told me that my snowshoes would be staying in the car. (I made just shy of the West Fork Foss River trail head in my 2-wheel drive for fun but the snow near the end was pretty rutted and sloppy so I turned back).
I was not disappointed, however, as my hike was a lovely quiet wander in the woods, making it to the 5 mile log bridge that crosses the East Fork Foss River before turning around. The weather had promised some sun but the clouds pretty much just spit on me the whole day. Rain jacket on, rain jacket off. Repeat. All the forest greenery was rinsed clean and shiny for me, though.
After the first campsite, I reached the large constructed bridge at just under a mile into the trail. Not surprisingly, Burn Creek was rushing underneath in hurry for the Foss River from all winter’s melt.
For the most part, the first 3.5 miles of the trail were fairly bare and wet, plenty of streams running across and down the tread. A few patches of snow were not much to step through and I stayed fairly dry with my gaiters/trail runners on. There were a couple of downed trees but nothing major that couldn’t be stepped over.
However, about where I stopped and had a nice chat with Sir Hikes-A-Lot as he was heading back down the trail, the trail conditions changed for the next 1.5 miles to the river crossing. Let’s just say it was one part bare trail, one part lake on trail and two parts postholing through a snowcone. My favorite kind of trail.
The worst part was the snow on top of all the puncheons that run over this boggy trail where I could tell a few planks were missing or sunken. It’s one thing to punch through snow and another to also go through a puncheon. It slowed me down a bit! I will say that although there was plenty of snow, it was not anything worth hauling snowshoes in for. There was too much bare trail in between the snowy sections.
Sir Hikes-A-Lot of course had warned me but well, I had my mind set on reaching the 5 mile mark. Anyone nursing a knee injury would be wise to turn around at 3.5 miles. A fantastic river stroll for the whole family. The views are open here and you can see the snowy peaks rising above. Another few weeks should see most of the snow on the trail melted off. But if you go now, you can use my postholes. You are welcome.
Luckily, the slide alder and devil’s club bent over the trail was not horrible and I put my spikes for the two log bridges at 4.5 and 5 miles. I have this thing about slick logs. Ask my right shoulder.
Lunch was lovely at the East Fork Foss River crossing and the campsite just before sure clearly sees a lot of action. In fact, I’m not entirely sure I would want to stay at any of the campsites along the first 5 miles (except the first one) because of all the evidence of avalanche activity off the ridge to the northeast. It was obvious so much of that trail has been repaired from slide after slide.
The clouds did briefly part while I was enjoying my vittles and I could see the beginning of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness peaks rising above with a recent dusting of snow. I gave a brief thought to continuing a bit further (oh, the call) but opted to save it for another day. From here I imagine snowshoes might be worth it for any ascent into the lakes above as there will not be a (compacted) trail to follow.
1/8/2016
After reading the trip reports on WTA from a few days ago, I thought I would see how far I could get up the Foss River Road to the East Fork Foss River Trailhead (Necklace Valley). At the county road end where the plowing stops, I saw where there were places to park but decided to drive a little further up.
I made it up a mile or so before I feared I did not have enough clearance, so I backed up to a turn out and that is where I managed to get stuck in my front wheel drive car.
After digging myself out, a very nice person came along and gave me just the push I needed to make it back down to where he had smartly parked his truck. From there I walked back up towards the trail head, soon to be passed by another car (Subaru). Not much after that, they too were backing down the road. Why, you might ask?
Because shortly before the road for Tonga Ridge, someone had left their completely stuck pickup right in the middle of the road. So even if you could make it, the road was blocked. Hopefully he’ll be back with a friend with a bigger and badder truck than his! And I didn’t feel so bad about getting my car stuck.
After the truck, the snow was deep and it looks much like a combination of construction vehicle tracks, snowshoes and ski marks. I did make it to the actual Necklace Valley trailhead where the East Fork Foss River trail begins, wandering down the official trail for a mile or so, and then time had me heading back to my car. It was wide and level, the sun streaming down through the forest canopy and snow plopping down around me as it melted from the branches.
The hike from my car and back was lovely, with the icy river rolling by on one side and intricate icicle designs on the other. This made for a great snowshoe without having to drive that far up SR 2 and little elevation gain.
Driving back down the Foss River Road, I decided to take a right where the road bends left to go over the river and followed this gravel road for a short distance (where the brown trail distances sign is). There were a few places to get out and look at the Tye River, you can see in the pictures what an quiet resting spot it was!
Directions: From Everett drive east on SR 2 toward Stevens Pass. After passing the Skykomish and the Skykomish Ranger Station on the left, continue another 0.5 miles and turn right onto Foss River Road (Forest Road 68). Paved at first then gravel, drive a little over 2 miles to a snow-park lot under the railroad trestle (FR 6820). The road will either be plowed to here, to where the county road ends or plowed to the junction with Forest Road 6830 (Tonga Ridge) 3.4 miles up from SR 2. There are several pullouts in between. The official trail head for the East Fork Foss Trail will be another .6 miles up on your left (4.1 miles from SR 2). A Northwest Forest Pass is needed.
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