This Lesser-Known Washington State Park Is An Awe-Inspiring Paradise For Waterfall Lovers

Wallace Falls State Park has everything you could wish for in a classic Pacific Northwest hike: lush evergreen forests carpeted in mosses and prehistoric-looking sword ferns, alpine lakes, big mountain views to make your heart soar with awe, and nine magnificent waterfalls that demonstrate why this region is called the Cascade Mountain Range. About an hour northeast of Seattle,  this park is the Washington version of Minnesota's waterfall-rich Gooseberry State Park or Hawaii's Akaka Falls State Park.

Most of the Pacific Northwest's wildlands were logged at some point, so the old-growth forests you'll find in Wallace Falls State Park are a rare treat not to be missed. This area is a temperate rainforest, where ample rainfall blankets the trees in moss, which is most vivid in the spring (also the season when the waterfalls thunder most impressively). But Wallace Falls is a year-round hiker's paradise, with warm days in summer when the views across the Skykomish Valley shine, winter snowshoeing, and spectacular fall colors.

Seattleites flock to Wallace Falls to hike the Woody Trail, which follows along the Wallace River, with viewpoints overlooking three impressive waterfalls. It's a moderately strenuous outing, with 1,500 feet of elevation gain in 2.8 miles for a 5.6-mile round-trip. The first ¼ mile of the trail is unlovely, following under power lines, but you'll come to a junction where you can choose the Woody Trail or a shallower, longer ascent on a railroad grade. Taking the Woody Trail, you'll cross a wooden footbridge, then arrive at Lower Wallace Falls, a skinny horsetail cascade only partly visible through the dense foliage. This is impressive, but it's just your sneak preview of the delights to come.

The middle falls, called simply Wallace Falls (pictured), is the stunning highlight of this hike, the reward for climbing a series of lung-searing switchbacks. This thundering waterfall tumbles nearly 400 feet over four drops, the longest of which plummets 260 feet into a sea of roiling mist. Many hikers end there to avoid the steepest part of the hike, the climb to the upper falls. But you should continue on at least to the Valley Viewpoint, where you can see the evergreen expanse of the Skykomish Valley and, on a clear day, Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountain Range beyond. You've come this far, why not finish at Upper Wallace Falls? It's another tiered horsetail where you can watch the flow from a picturesque footbridge.

If you're a hardy hiker with a whole day to spend, you can add Wallace Lake to your itinerary for a 9-mile loop hike. For even more seclusion, continue past Wallace Lake 1 mile to the smaller Jay Lake. There are campsites at both lakes, so this makes a great first backpacking trip. Additionally, the fact that it's relatively developed and frequently traveled makes this an excellent choice for your first solo hike. There are also two first-come, first-serve campsites close to the parking lot if you're a car camper.

Wallace Falls is a great place to join the fall color seekers for a "larch march" during "larch madness." That's Washingtonian for hiking to see the larch trees, deciduous alpine conifers that turn from yellow to gold to flaming orange in autumn before shedding their needles. The steep hike up Wallace Falls is a great way to view some Western Larches, which are more abundant further northeast.

Something else you might see? Bears. While not as plentiful as the bear viewing at Alaska's Anan Wildlife Observatory, don't be surprised if you spot a black bear wandering through the park. They are really only dangerous if surprised, so if you're visiting when crowds are thin, it's a good idea to make noise while hiking to ensure the local bears hear you coming.