Wallace Falls: The view is worth the trip

Published 11:29 pm Friday, May 15, 2009

This is the third in an occasional series about taking public transportation to destinations in the area. Previous trips included Tacoma and Langley.

Once again, we’re going to take the bus somewhere.

Only this time, we’re loading up the bicycles, then biking a few miles uphill, then hiking uphill another mile and a half or so for views of one of the area’s favorite attractions, Wallace Falls.

So that’s three potentially distasteful activities for a lot of folks, but if you’re still game, here’s the plan.

Catch the bus

Get yourself and your bikes to Everett Station, 3201 Smith Ave., where you’ll find Bay B2 and look for Community Transit 271 to Gold Bar. You can check with CT and find other stops in Everett, Snohomish and Monroe that might be more convenient for you.

We pedaled from our house to the station on a Sunday morning and loaded the bikes on the 8:55 a.m. bus. (Be aware that the buses have room for only two bikes on the rack. If the bus is not crowded, the driver may allow a bike or two inside.) Phase one of the trip began.

This is not the fastest way to get to Gold Bar, but at $1.50 a person, it’s not that bad a deal. It takes an hour and 20 minutes, give or take, from Everett.

The best thing you can say about the trip is that you get see parts of Snohomish, Monroe and Sultan you may never have seen before. Maybe the worst thing you can say is that you get to see them all again on the way back. The thrill is gone.

In Gold Bar, you disembark on First Street, just off U.S. 2, ready for the second leg of the journey. We arrived at 10:20 a.m.

Saddle up

From here it’s a fairly easy, mostly level, ride up First Street to Wallace Lake Road, where you turn right and continue to Wallace Falls State Park. Total distance is about 1.5 miles, with a bit of an uphill push toward the end.

Stop at the trailhead if you need to use the facilities, fill water bottles, reconsider the whole idea, whatever. Then hit the trail. It’s all dirt from here, mostly a gentle upgrade, with some steeper spots. The wide path will come to a fork, with a narrower, hikers-only trail to the right. This is called the Woody Trail, paralleling the river for a distance of about 2.5 miles to the upper falls.

On the bikes, stay left on the wider railroad grade, which meanders up through heavy woods about two miles, where a footpath will take you down to intersect the Woody Trail about a mile from the upper falls.

About the railroad grade: It’s rocky and rooty, very rough in spots, so be cautious, especially coming down the steeper areas.

At the cutoff trail, find a tree or post to lock up the bikes and pull up your socks for the last leg going in.

Step up

A short distance down the connecting trail, you hit the Woody Trail again, 1.5 miles from the trailhead at this point. The falls are to the left. There’s a little more downhill, then the trail begins a steady climb, first to the lower falls viewpoint and picnic shelter, a very popular stopping point for many visitors.

Pushing on up another quarter-mile, you’ll come to the middle falls, the longest drop and most spectacular section of Wallace Falls. All the viewpoints are fenced off. Do stay inside the fence and take your pictures. People have fallen and died trying to get better views.

A little farther up is a Skykomish Valley overlook, where you can look back at the Wallace River making its way toward confluence with the Skykomish River in the distant valley.

Beyond this overlook, about a half-mile farther up, is the upper falls viewpoint, today’s destination, and worth the effort. We’ve made it, as have a dozen others taking turns at photographing the falls, and dozens more we pass on the way down. As I said, it’s a popular spot on weekends.

Down and out

It’s all, or mostly all, downhill from here, and we breeze back to the bikes on the railroad grade. After stopping for lunch at a nearby picnic table, we coast downhill, mindful of the big rocks, back to the parking lot for a break before pedaling on back to the First Street bus stop in Gold Bar.

We’re there a little after 3 p.m. and kill time until the 3:40 p.m. bus to Everett. More familiar with the route this time, we hop out at Wall Street and Wetmore Avenue in Everett, for a shorter ride home (and less uphill) than from the station. We roll up to our front door about 5:20 p.m.

And there it is: Wallace Falls three ways. Because it’s there.