Courtney Lewis (left) and Abbie Ward of Fall City take in the view from a footbridge that spans the Snoqualmie River at Tolt-MacDonald Park in Carnation. The park offers overnight camping, hiking and mountain bike trails.

Courtney Lewis (left) and Abbie Ward of Fall City take in the view from a footbridge that spans the Snoqualmie River at Tolt-MacDonald Park in Carnation. The park offers overnight camping, hiking and mountain bike trails.

Road trip to Carnation, heart of Snoqualmie-Tolt valley

  • By Gale Fiege Herald Writer
  • Friday, April 22, 2016 9:26am
  • LifeGo-See-Do

CARNATION — Ready for a Sunday drive?

Now that the Skagit Valley tulips are beheaded, it’s time to head south to Carnation.

A big part of this day trip is the drive itself.

Depending on your starting point, head south on the Monroe-Duvall Road (Highway 203) or go through Maltby to Paradise Lake Road down to Woodinville-Duvall Road and then south on Highway 203.

When I was young (pre-I-90), this was the route my family took to get to Snoqualmie Falls and to the state highway up to the mountain pass.

Just like the Snohomish River Valley, this was once big-time dairy country.

Old farms dot the landscape along the Snoqualmie River in east King County and the bucolic feel of the countryside is a soothing respite from suburbia.

Carnation is located on the east bank of the Snoqualmie at its confluence with the Tolt River.

An important village for the native Snoqualmie people, it’s where white settler James Entwistle set up a trading post in the 1850s and later grew hops. The lovely home he built in 1912 is located at 32021 Entwistle St.

After Snoqualmie Chief Pat Kanim ceded the area to the U.S., the loggers, homesteaders and dairy farmers flocked to the valley.

The town was officially incorporated in 1912 as Tolt, based on a Lushootseed name for the river.

When the Carnation Milk Products Co. established its huge research farm just three miles away, the town’s name was changed in 1917 to Carnation.

The early settlers and the Snoqualmie Tribe did not appreciate the new name and it was changed back to Tolt in 1928. However, by 1951, the world-famous Carnation Dairy held sway and the town was again renamed Carnation.

The 800-acre farm is now home to Camp Korey, a facility for children with chronic or life-threatening illnesses, as well as a venue for weddings and other events.

The Great Northern Railroad laid tracks in the valley around 1910. This was a boon for the area considering that logs, milk and other goods previously had been shipped on the Snoqualmie River, which alternately flooded and dried up depending on the season. The path of the railroad is now the 31-mile Snoqualmie Valley Trail through the countryside.

As soon as the land near Carnation had been logged and cleared, the dairy farms sprang up. The Tolt-Snoqualmie valley became known as the “Home of Contented Cows.” One dairy farm, established in 1907 by Andrew and Bergette Hjertoos, is now, ironically, the Carnation Tree Farm. You can drive by the beautiful Hjertoos house at 31523 NE 40th St.

At the east end of 40th is the Tolt-MacDonald County Park, a great destination for a Sunday drive and a launching point at its south end for the Snoqualmie Valley Trail.

An old barn there has been refurbished as a picnic pavilion and the grounds include athletic fields and tent camping spots.

The highlight of the 40-year-old, 574-acre Tolt-MacDonald park, however, is the cable footbridge across the Snoqualmie River. Don’t be dissuaded by the sway as you walk across. Look upriver to the south to see the 94-year-old Tolt Bridge, one of the few truss bridges of its kind left in the state.

On the other side of the river, yurts await campers and trails go up the hillside, ready for mountain bikers and hikers.

From the park, cross the Tolt River on the highway bridge, take the first left and head east to Remlinger Farms, located at 32610 NE 32nd St.

This is another good place to take kids, especially because Remlinger’s is a working farm.

See the old farm equipment, enjoy the gardens, hang with the animals, eat strawberries in late spring and pick a pumpkin in early fall.

The Remlinger shop, replete with jars of jams and jellies and all sorts of other goodies, opens Mother’s Day weekend.

Other farms to visit include the Blue Dog berry farm, 7125 W. Snoqualmie Valley Road; Oxbow Organic Farm, 10819 Carnation-Duvall Road NE; and First Light Farm, 8710 Ames Lake-Carnation Road NE.

Another recommended stop is the Carnation Farmers Market, which opens for the season May 3 and runs through October from 3 to 7 p.m. on Tuesdays at Tolt Avenue and Bird Street. Sponsored by Sno-Valley Tilth, the market sells organic produce and artisan foods.

While you are in town, stop in at Re-In-Carnation at 31845 W. Commercial St. Yes, the name drew us in.

The thrift store benefits the Sno-Valley Senior Center.

Just down the street is Tolt Hall, the town’s original hotel. Built in 1913 at 31933 W. Rutherford, it now serves as an apartment building.

Debbie and Robert Hinzman run their collectibles store called Chachkies Trinkets and Treasures directly across the highway. The highlight of the display at Chachkies is a totem carved in the 1970s by Robert’s father, Charles Hinzman, a member of the Snoqualmie Tribe.

Grab an iced coffee at Sandy’s Espresso, a couple of doors down. The locals also recommend the Carnation Cafe for weekend breakfast and lunch.

No matter which way you go, enjoy the drive home. Spring is a wonderful season in the Snoqualmie Valley.

Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @galefiege.

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