Mileage: 12.75 miles RT
Elevation Gain/Highest: 1905/1890ft
Map: Green Trails Index No 142, State Park Map, my GAIA 2019
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
Wallace Falls State Park is a great place to explore between a series of waterfalls along Wallace River to a set of lakes along the North Fork Wallace River, there is plenty to do. There are two main trails up into the park, a lower one along the river and waterfalls, and a higher one on an old railroad grade.
This loop is one of my favorites to do during the winter time when crowds are fewer and higher elevations are less accessible. There isn’t always snow but when there is it makes it that much nicer as part of this route is on forest road still used for logging. You can read my blog post, There’s More To Do In Wallace Falls State Park Than Waterfalls why I love this area so much.
Starting from the trailhead, it begins on a service road under power lines (not exciting) but you do get a view of Mount Index before you head into the trees at 1/3 mile in.
In a few hundred yards, the Woody Trail starts down to the river on the right, I usually take that if I am early in the day before crowds. Otherwise I just keep going on the Old Railroad Grade (the service road).
The Woody Trail takes you along the Wallace River and the waterfalls that everyone comes for. There is an interpretive trail about 1/2 mile in with a small waterfall that is great for the little ones. There are, also, two junctions at 1 mile and 1.3 miles that will connect you to the Old Railroad Grade and Greg Ball Trail.
I normally come down those to complete my loop but if you want to skip the falls completely and shave 1.25 miles off this loop, turn up on the Greg Ball Trail here.
The Lower Falls present themselves at 1.75 miles up and there is a picnic shelter an viewing point. This is where you will see most families and folks out for a short hike. It offers a great view of the length of the river with the upper falls off in the distance. I am usually here first thing when lighting isn’t the best but hopefully you get the idea!
The Middle Falls and Upper Falls take a bit more gain and steeper ascent than the Lower Falls, stopping at 2 miles, 2.3 miles and 2.6 miles for more views of the waterfall and out into the valley, Puget Sound and across to the Olympic Mountains.
There are viewing platforms and it is important to heed the signs about staying inside the rails, there are hikers who don’t survive a trip to Wallace Falls because they went searching for just the right selfie beyond them.
From here the trail continues up to a forest road above about .15 miles, leaving the park boundaries and onto DNR land.
The brief trail up is more narrow but well defined and there is signage to let you know which direction to go once you are up on the forest road. I prefer taking this in the winter as the snow makes the logging activity less obvious. The thinned out trees mean an expansive panorama of the valley view you saw earlier down by the falls.
The road goes for 2.8 miles before you arrive at the bridge over the outlet for Wallace Lake. Just before there is usually a water crossing that needs to be navigated, I’m not sure what it is like during the summer but winter means some hopping and possible wet feet.
Here there is a junction with a service road that comes up from the Greg Ball Trail, most people who come to the lake enter here. There is a picnic table and camping available (permits needed at the ranger station).
But the best views for the lake can be found be making your way around the lake past this spot another 3/4 mile to what appears to be a dry creek bed and turning right into it through low hanging branches to access the lakeshore. It is just before the sign for Jay Lake and there are containers filled with rocks once meant for crossing the stream. They are a covered with snow in this picture.
I love to stop here for lunch and I rarely have company (unless I bring them with me). Mount Stickney, Index and Persis can be scene (on a good day) across the lake and there are nice logs for sitting on.
To add Jay Lake to the loop, it is another 1.8 miles out and back from the dry creek bed. The trail is wide and there is little gain as it was once a road, too.
Jay Lake is a bit more brushy around the water’s edge and winter means better views. There are tent pads and a picnic table, along with a privy and bear wire for hanging food. It makes a great first time backpacking trip and I hear the fishing is good.
Returning back to Wallace Lake and the junction with the service road, it is about .7 miles out to a junction with the Greg Ball Trail and down to the trailhead.
If you want the extra miles (2) or more snowshoeing when conditions are right, you can take the DNR road out and there are some nice views of the valley along the way. It’s a slog best left for mountain bikes, though, when there isn’t snow. Trust me, I know.
The Greg Ball Trail makes it way along the North Fork Wallace River and is considered a relatively easy grade through the forest. There are benches along the way and you may see a few people but not near as many as the Woody Trail. In 1.9 miles it drops you out at a junction with the Old Railroad Grade with a privy and picnic table.
You have several options now to complete your loop. In just a few hundred more yards, you can drop down and connect back with the Woody Trail in .15 miles and to the trailhead in another 1.3 miles.
You can continue a further on the Old Railroad Grade that is a super easy descent to a junction further on that will drop you down to the Woody again. Or you can just take the Old Railroad all the way back out to the trailhead adding about 1 mile more to the loop. The benefit to the added mile can mean not having to navigate the other hikers on the Woody Trail who may be heading to the falls later in the day since you already saw them in the morning.
This loop takes about 12.75 miles and if you add the interpretive walk at the beginning it is 13.3. Give yourself at least 7 hours with snow and a stop for lunch!
1/19/2024
Just another winter saunter through Wallace Falls State Park, this time to just visit the lower and middle falls. As I was out today, it had me thinking about how ling it may have been since I have visited the park without snow and ice. Maybe 2003 or so when I would take YMCA summer camp kids here? No, I was able to find pictures from 2007 so I added them down below. I think I am okay with winter trips, though, it really is the best time to go.
2/21/2019
I realized a short while ago that it had been a few years since I had done the Wallace Falls-Wallace Lake-Jay Lake loop and snow with a sunny day seemed to be the perfect reason to return.
I started the trail around 8:30 am and opted just for microspikes, gaiters and waterproof trail runners. I had brought my snowshoes but figured the trail would be mostly compact until Wallace Lake and not worth carrying them on my back. What’s a little postholing if you are already doing close to a half marathon?
The road under the power lines had snow but for where the service vehicles drive in. Gives the impression they took a snow shovel to it for the crowds…
Once under the tree cover, the snow was more sparse as I made a turn down onto the Woody Trail and along Wallace River. I had never turned to the do the Small Falls Interpretive Trail so I made the half mile loop first. The story kiosks are nice with native language and details about the forest. Worth a side trip…
Snow was spotty but clear at first where it needed to be so I didn’t put on spikes until after the middle falls where it was vital. The early hour meant the photos weren’t the best but I wasn’t here for the falls anyway. Helped a couple gals vacationing from Minnesota take a photo and I was up past the upper falls and onto the forest road above a little after 10:30 and 3 miles into my trek.
Here the snow had tracks in it with a compact path down the middle. Clearly others have made the loop to Wallace Lake since Snowmageddon. The view at the clearing overlooking the valley was open and I could see over to the Olympics. Not that I didn’t see them down at the falls but from here it is much more panoramic. I soon took my spikes off when they started to ball.
The snow deepened as I made my way towards Wallace Lake as the sun turned the snow on the branches above into showers of ice. It wasn’t long before I donned my rain jacket to keep from getting it down my neck. Snow was about mid-calf by the time I got to the bridge for the outlet of the lake, probably would be deeper if others hadn’t compacted it a bit over the last two weeks.
The tracks continued past the outlet and around the lake only for another hundred yards or so and after that I was all on my own to break trail. It wasn’t too deep from there to the inlet but it was that thing where one foot might go in two inches and the other 10. Good times. I should mention here that the trail was not pristine, there was a woodland animal who had been making their way along at some point and their tracks went to both lakes eventually.
I paused at the other side of Wallace Lake for lunch and took in the stunning view of the snowy landscape with Mount Stickney, Index and Persis off in the distance. I love that I can come to the popular Wallace Falls and still have a piece of the park all to myself. The sun created such a glittery sheen on the water’s surface and I may have gotten a little color on my cheeks.
I found it interesting that there was a flurry of prints at the lakeshore indicating activity and chuckled a bit when I noticed a mutilated snake corpse abandoned in the snow. Dinner or toy?
It was about 1pm at this point and I decided I had time for Jay Lake. I imagined the snow would be deep but I had made it around Wallace so how bad could it be? It was only a mile…
It actually didn’t turn out to be too bad but the snow was knee deep in the sections without tree cover. My little furry friend made a good guide and I tried to stay close to where she had made tracks.
I stopped at Jay long enough to marvel at the snow covered lake before retracing my steps. I was at 7.5 miles so far for the day and it was about 1:30pm
My trek down was uneventful, taking the Greg Ball down to connect with the Woody Trail again. I saw only one other person heading into Wallace and the snow on the Greg Ball was that snow cone slush stuff. I didn’t end up putting my spikes back on for the rest of the trip.
If you go early, expect ice. Later in the day, mud and slush. And if you go to Jay, you are welcome for the steps to walk in.
12/11/2016 (10.1 miles RT)
With the weather less than favorable and a high avalanche warning for the day, I opted for a morning at Wallace Falls State Park so I wouldn’t have to go back to work tomorrow without my weekend dose of nature.
As my normal MO for Wallace, I got there early and was hiking along about 8:30am. I decided to take my chances and leave my snowshoes in the car and only bring my microspikes as I expected things to be icy. There were about 6 cars in the parking lot and I only saw 5 people in the beginning with no one by the time I got to the middle falls.
There were patches of snow from the start in the exposed areas but under canopy the trail was just wet and muddy. There was more snow by the river than I thought there would be, I was glad to have my poles so I could keep a good pace without worrying about slipping.
I made it to the upper falls via the Woody Trail by 9:45am and then took the trail up to the DNR road. I remember the first time I took this trail it seemed to be nothing more than a boot path but now the trail is easy to find and marked with blue blaze.
There wasn’t much snow to begin with but it wasn’t long until I was postholing. It was just enough to slow me down but not enough that snowshoes would have been useful. The snow began to fall in fat, sloppy clumps and dust the trees.
The DNR road is not the most beautiful route but I did have it too myself which was is often hard to find in the state park. If you are taking this route there are signs to follow but several roads leading off the main one so having a map is handy. There had been prints from one other person but I couldn’t tell if it was today or late yesterday and they didn’t go all the way to the lake.
There are two streams across the road before you get to the lake that require some leaping to keep the feet dry.
I got to the lake at 11am and could see footprints in the snow that had come up from the Greg Ball trail, maybe earlier this morning. I walked around to the far side of the lake just before you head up to Jay Lake and walked down to the shoreline on the dry inlet for a brief snack. The wind was cold blowing over the lake and falling snow had me putting on several more layers from my pack. It seems most of my trips here are during winter when the cold makes my stays short!
I opted to save Jay Lake for another day and headed back around the lake and down the Greg Ball Trail to Woody and out. I hadn’t seen anyone since the start and only saw about 4 groups once I got back on the Woody Trail and towards the trailhead, I was back to my car by 1:15pm. There were still only about 15 cars in the parking lot, I guess the weather had kept the crowds at home. I did notice signs of the increasing popularity of this trail by the fact they have had to install No Parking signs every 20ft down the road outside the park boundary.
12/28/2015
I was in search of snowshoeing today, so I skipped the falls and headed up towards the lakes around 9am. I took the bike route up the DNR road from the railroad trail and was able to put on my snowshoes about an hour into the hike. There were a few views of the valley from the road and the snow was knee high by the time I reached where the Greg Ball trail meets the road. After breaking trail most of the road, it was nice to have a path from here to Wallace Lake. I took my snowshoes off and just had my trail runners on.
At the lake at noon I saw a few people with and without snowshoes (the first people since I left the parking lot). I made my way around the lake, putting my snowshoes back on about half way. Several folks stopped at the end of the lake where the creek runs in and I along with another solo female hiker with snowshoes continued onto Jay Lake.
We were the first ones today and she broke trail most of the way to the lake. The snow was above knee high in places and the lake has started to freeze over. I have been up here a few times and winter is the best time to see Jay Lake as normally it is so brushy it is hard to see the water. We both stopped at the picnic table to snack.
I headed back about 1:30pm and as it was 3pm by the time I got the Greg Ball junction so I took that route down. I had taken my snowshoes off as I made my way around Wallace Lake and switched to microspikes which I kept on about 1.5 miles of the Greg Ball trail, mostly because I wanted to keep a good speed down. If you have good traction on your footwear they would not be necessary. I had good traction but can be a klutz! There was snow but it was compacted. I was back down to my car about 4:30pm.
12/30/2014
It is fun to try and find different ways to explore Wallace Falls State Park, especially when you are trying to avoid the mobs of people who usually line its trails. I got up early on a very icy day to get there as soon as the gate opened and other than the few folks coming down the trail who had camped at the sites available off the parking lot, I was the only one on the Woody trail up to the falls. After the upper falls, I went past the sign and made my way up a trail that was more of a boot path and with the downed trees was a bit hard to follow. There is a bit of blue blaze to follow.
I came out to the DNR road at the top and checked out the river on the right before wandering a few miles over to Wallace Lake. The road sees construction but had solitude until I got to the lakeshore from folks who had come up Greg Ball. Truth is, very few people venture past the falls so you can usually enjoy the lake without being shoulder to shoulder. The lake is serene and has a nice view of Mt. Stickney, Index and Persis to the east.
There wasn’t a lot of snow and I continued over to Jay Lake a short mile away. It was hard to get close to the lake due to all the brush but I could catch glimpses through the trees. I sat for a bit and enjoyed the peace and quiet.
Having heard that you could continue past Jay Lake to another remote lake, I attempted to find a boot path that would take me there. There seemed to be one to follow but snow on the ground made it a bit hard to follow so I just kept going with the creek to my right. After about 20 minutes, I came to a creek crossing and a log across but the slope on the other side gave no indication of a way to continue.
It was about noon but the temps were in the 20s so I decided to return another day. However, on the way back I lost my footprints in the intermittent snow and found myself disoriented. I knew I was okay because I had plenty of daylight and my son was able to text me asking where his socks were so I pulled out the map and compass to orientate myself.
I ended up back at the creek crossing and followed it through brush and rock until I was back at Jay Lake happy I hadn’t had to call the park ranger because I couldn’t figure it out. Luckily, I had a “fun” time practicing my navigation skills and all I had to show was barbs in my hands and a good story. I’ll be back in warmer temps to try again.
My trek out was on the Greg Ball trail to Railroad and out.
6/3/2007
My earliest pictures of visiting Wallace Falls State Park, this trip was with my son and my sister’s family (husband and daughter). Looks like we made it to the lower falls.
Directions: From Everett, follow Hwy 2 for 28 miles east to Gold Bar. Soon after driving into town, turn left onto 1st Street, signed for Wallace Falls State Park. Proceed for 0.4 mile to a four way stop. Turn right onto May Creek Road and continue for 1.5 miles to Wallace Falls State Park. Come early, although there is lots of parking it fills up fast, especially during the summer. There is no parking along the road outside the park. You will need a Discover Pass and there is a kiosk for purchasing at the trailhead.
For more hikes on HWY 2, click HERE.
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