Snoqualmie Falls
Kevin and I love to hit the road for long adventuresome road trips, but sometimes we also like to just visit local sites as well. A few weeks back we had family in town so we spent the afternoon at Snoqualmie Falls.
Snoqualmie Falls is just 45 minutes from our home in Seattle so it makes for a quick easy day trip. We went on a Friday obviously in January so there weren’t many tourists and the parking lot had ample parking. Cross the beautiful covered bridge with information plaques telling you the history of the Falls and Resort.
From the first look out point you get this great vantage of the Falls. They look impressive here but you need to keep going to get the full picture.
This is an impressive amount of water falling over the 268 foot drop, but during flood season or with the melt off of the mountain snow pack make for an amazing show. When the river is high you don’t see hardly any rocks here, it’s just all water!
You gotta take a selfie!
The Falls are extremely important to the Native People of the region. The area was a burial site, the falls are known as “the place where First Woman and First Man were created” and “where prayers were carried up to the Creator by the great mists that rise from the powerful falls.” They also believed that the mists rising from the base of the waterfall served to connect Heaven and Earth!
After you walk the path and check out the view from the different vantage points, you can check out the markers telling you the history of the Falls as a power plant. The first plant was built to generate power from the falls in 1899. It was the worlds first fully underground power plant at 270 feet underground at the base of the falls. The second plant was built in 1910 and expanded in the 1950’s. Today Puget Sound Energy collects 1% of its revenue from the power generated from the falls.
There is a gift shop on the property with the traditional tourist souvenirs, always a fun place to look around for those random Washington stocking stuffers for next Christmas.
Now the Lodge! The Salish Lodge opened in 1986 and has been the place to lodge and dine ever since. I remember right after it first opened my family went to dinner in the fancy dining room. A first class setting with delicious dishes prepared by world class chefs. Well I was a 7 year old and had never ate in candle light, and the fancy food that was hard to see scared me. YES I cried thru the meal not knowing what exactly I was eating. I’ve definitely grown out of that phase, I would love to dine here again.
This trip since we were there in the mid afternoon we decided to have a late lunch and glass of wine in the casual restaurant at the Lodge, “The Attic”. The menu was a simple Northwest inspired menu. It was a cold day so we shared a Beecher’s Grilled Cheese Sandwich and Tomato Soup. I forgot to take photos of the food since I was more interested in the impressive view. But if you are now craving Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup give my recipes a try!
I enjoyed a glass of Viognier from a local Snoqualmie Winery. Sigillo Cellars is located in the town of Snoqualmie. From the looks of their website they make an assortment of wines, including a Sparkling Viognier which I need to get in and try! This Viognier was delicious with aromas and flavors of Lemongrass, Green Apple, Pear, Honey, Dandelion!
Kevin tried out their wine flight option. They have set flights but weren’t strict so you could pretty much choose which three you’d like to taste. Here he had a Chardonnay from Cambria, California a Cabernet from Mark Ryan “The Chief”, and a red blend from Pearl & Stone another local wine maker. This made for a fun relaxing afternoon and perfect way to warm up from the cold wind out at the falls.
Even if you have been to the Falls hundreds of times like I have over my life, it’s still exciting and new every time you see the massive water flowing over the edge. If you travel to Seattle make sure you make time to take a day out to the country or if you are a local go out and check out our beautiful wonder of the world in our own backyard.
Here is a video from the Snoqualmie Falls Website!
