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Garfield Ledges

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There's a whole list of longer or more challenging hikes that I've been wanting to go to and we finally made it to one of them - a nearby-ish hike called Garfield Ledges. I was able to convince the girls to go because it was close, was not a long trail (2.2M r/t) and it promised a nice view.

The hike ended up ticking 2 out of those 3 boxes! The trail was actually was a lot further than we thought because while it was only maybe 20 minutes on the freeway to the exit in North Bend, it was another 15 miles down the road after that. Still, we made pretty good time and was out at the trailhead by about 9:30am. 

The hike was just a little over a mile to the viewpoint, and it ascends about 900 ft so there's quite a lot of switchbacks. The girls entertained themselves by talking about fairies and rock goblins and making up stories about where they live, and before they knew it, we were at the top! 

We were there early enough that when we go to the top, there was one other party hanging out and they left as soon as we got there. We had the place to ourselves for a good 10 minutes before another group came in. On the way down, we passed by 8 other groups (I counted) so I'm glad we went up fairly early. 

The trailhead is actually a day-use park along the Taylor River, with lots of spots for having a picnic. We all really liked the trail and thought it was totally worth it. We also passed so many other trailheads so I'm excited to explore other hikes nearby!


Taylor River at the start of the trail.

Going up and up and up.

Our view from the top, with the river below.

The view looks out over the Middle Fork Snoqualamie Valley.

On the drive back, we let Nora have a blue ring pop.

Strawberries the size of your fist!

 

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