Mileage: 8 miles RT (first lake), 8.4 RT for the second lake
Elevation Gain/Highest: 1863/4462ft
Map: Green Trails Snoqualmie Pass 207, my GAIA from 2/2019
Favorite Eats After Hike: North Bend Bar & Grill, Chang Thai & Pho, The Commonwealth, Basecamp Books & Bites, 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.
Snowshoe Details:
The chain of three lakes beneath Kendall Peak near Snoqualmie Pass is a popular winter destination for snowshoers and cross county skiers alike. Most of the route follows a gentle forest road, rising above to take in views of the ski resort and surrounding peaks.
My trip reports:
2/6/2019
I’ve updated this page with details from my latest snowshoe, a GAIA track and more accurate statistics. Conditions were about the same, maybe a little less snow and fewer people. There are almost always tracks to follow, but they don’t often go to the same place you want to go. Navigation is important even for this popular hike.
12/7/2016
Despite the cold temperatures, we had a great time on a snowshoe to Kendall Peak Lakes today. We waited until things thawed out a bit and got to the pass about 10:30am and were heading up the trail that is really a forest road at 11am. The trail follows this road for most of the trek so things are wide and an easy grade.
The snow was compact for the first 2 miles or so and there are nice views of the skiers on the slopes when the views opened up first about 2.1 miles and 3,600 feet in. We did see a mix of snowshoers and X-C skiers on the trail, in addition to folks just in boots. Please be aware if you are postholing where skiers and snowshoers travel you are creating a hazard with the holes you make. Avoid walking where you see ski tracks.
The road began switchbacking for another 1.5 miles with the Kendall Peak ridge in front of us and then we came to a large open junction lined with trees at 3.25 miles in and 4,170 feet with tracks in different directions. Checking the map, we took the path that turned more sharply to the left back into the pines and the road here narrowed. We could see Alta and Hibox Mountain off in the distance as we turned.
The trail continued to wrap around and views of the cirque that holds the lakes below Kendall Peak towers on the left. At 3.8 miles, we left the road and took a turn into the trees towards the lakes.
2.5 hours into our hike we arrived at the first lake, just a few hundred feet from where we left the main trail. We could see it through the trees first and then came around to a spot where the tracks went down to the large meadow/tarn area in front of the lake. It was a serene sight with the peak in the background. There were two snowshoers there finishing up lunch and getting ready to head back to the trailhead.
We debated our route because the tracks ended. My friend had been here before but I had not. We could tell on the map where the lake and stream were but not how deep the water was. Hoping to avoid the stream and the gaps in the snow, we went back up a bit to see if there was a route higher up but there was not.
So, as we came back down we were passed by a splitboarder who created a track around the lake that we decided to follow and see how far he was going. We had given ourselves about 30 minutes more before having to head back as the sun was going down and temperatures were dropping even more. This took us back into the woods and some nice deep powder to march through. The trail has a bit more an incline here and left the lake on a northerly tack then followed the contour right (east) to hit the middle lake.
It didn’t take long to reach the middle lake, we did check our map a few times because we wanted to make sure that the path we were following was taking us the right direction. The snow at the lake was virgin, so we made our way down a bit to a spot that was still blocked by the icy wind blowing over the lake. We stamped out a spot to sit and enjoyed hot drinks and lunch. We stayed only long enough to fuel up and then headed back down before our feet and hands got too cold.
The trip back was uneventful, except for some fun sliding down a cut in a switchback on the road and watching the dark snow clouds move in that promise more snow for the pass in the next couple days. We were back down to the cars at 4pm and ready for heated seats!
Directions: Drive east on I-90 to exit 54. From the exit ramp, turn left, crossing under the freeway to reach the Gold Creek Sno-Park. The “parking area” is rough and covered with snow. Park along the side and where you won’t block others. You can buy a snopark pass HERE or go over to the HYAK snopark across I-90 to a kiosk to buy. Only 1-Day passes are available at the kiosk there. There are port-a-potties.
For more snowshoe trip ideas, click HERE.
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