Snowshoe Falls

Located near Snoqualmie Pass, off of Interstate 90. Depart Interstate 90 at Exit 47 - signed for Denny Creek and Asahel Curtis. Cross the freeway (eastbounders only), and turn right at the first intersection. Proceed ¼ mile and turn left onto Denny Creek Road # 58. Proceed for 2 miles and turn left onto FR # 5830 - located ¼ mile east of Denny Creek Campground - signed for the Denny Creek Trail. The easiest way (relatively) to reach Snowshoe Falls is to follow the Melakwa Lakes trail for 1 ½ miles to the top of Keekwulee Falls, then find the unmarked by obvious spur trail that leads down to the granite slabs above the falls. Once here, simply follow Denny Creek upstream for another ½ mile to the base of Snowshoe Falls. This will involve crossing the creek several times, but unless the water is high, isn't a difficult hike - just slow going.Snowshoe Falls is the largest waterfall along Denny Creek, but because it's both difficult to access from below, and very hard to see from above, it doesn't receive nearly the amount of attention that neighboring Keekwulee Falls does. Snowshoe Falls is tucked at the head of a narrow gorge, about ½ mile upstream from Keekwulee Falls, but because of the steepness of the canyon walls, it's much more difficult to see the falls in entirety. On the flip side, hiking up the streambed from Keekwulee Falls is a piece of cake (at least when the water levels are lower), and the views from the bottom are quite rewarding. I was actually a little disappointed that the falls weren't more coherent. The first drop is a pretty 70-foot horsetail, which ends in a small landing. Below that is a two-stepped cascade, the majority of which is bedrock, but because of large boulders lining the falls, it appears more like a talus cascade. I visited the falls in early July, so low stream flow was partially to blame for the underwhelming impression. Earlier in the year, the falls will undoubtedly be much more impressive, however, accessing the falls might be a lot more difficult.Snowshoe Falls was named by a party of Mountaineers in 1916, but it is not known for sure when the falls were discovered by westerners. I have no proof, but I suspect the falls were named because snowshoes had to be used by the party of discoverers. Denny Creek was named for the Denny Family, Seattle pioneers (likely for whom Denny Way was named as well), who had mining claims in the area.