Trip Date: January 1, 2024
Keechelus Lake Flats Snowshoe Loop
Keechelus Boat Launch Peninsula
Keechelus Lake Flats & Stump Farm
Trip Report Summary
Region: Central Washington Cascades
Sub-Region: Iron Horse Mountains
Area: Okanogan–Wenatchee National Forest
Starting & Ending Point: Hyak Sno-Park off Interstate-90 at Exit 54 (Elev. 2550 feet)
Way Points: Keechelus Boat Launch Road junction & Keechelus Boat Launch Peninsula & Mill Creek crossing & Cold Creek (snowshoe hike via Palouse To Cascades Trail—Keechelus Boat Launch Road—Keechelus Lake Flats)
Approximate Stats: 3.9 miles traveled; 120 feet gained & lost; 3.0 hours elapsed.
Parking Comments
Parking for this snowshoe trek can be found at Hyak Sno-Park, located on the south side of Interstate-90 at Exit 54. A Washington State Sno-Park permit with a “special groomed-area sticker” is required here. This is a large parking lot, but be aware that it fills up quickly on weekends and holidays; it is advisable to arrive early (before 10:00am) or late (after 2:00pm) during high season. Also, be aware that the parking lot is closed and gated at dusk, so plan your trek accordingly.
Information Sources
The following links provide helpful information for planning this snowshoe trek. Even these information sources, however, should not be taken as a substitute for having the fitness, knowledge, equipment, and clothing required for snowshoe trekking.
>>> WSDOT road reports for Interstate-90 and Snoqualmie Pass
>>> National Weather Service weather forecast for Snoqualmie Pass area
>>> Other easy to intermediate snowshoe treks in the I-90 / Snoqualmie Pass corridor
Full Trip Report
Eileen, Chris, Tammi, and I had only half a day available for a New Year snowshoe trek, so we chose to do an exploration of Keechelus Lake Flats near Snoqualmie Pass. Despite our marginal weather and meager snowpack, this turned out to be a very good choice. Anyone looking for a short, accessible, and very easy snowshoe trek would likely enjoy this destination, especially on a day offering more sun and more snow.
The well-marked snowshoe route to Keechelus Lake Flats begins on the Palouse To Cascades State Park Trail (“P2C Trail” for short) at the southwestern corner of Hyak Sno-Park. Being a former railroad grade, this trail is very wide and very flat. The right-hand side of the trail is groomed for cross-country skiing, whereas the left-hand side is designated for snowshoers and walkers. We headed southward on the well-trodden snowshoe track.
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After ½ mile of level walking, we came to a wooden kiosk and small restroom structure on the left side of the P2C Trail. Here, we veered leftward off the trail and followed a marked snowshoe route that curves around the restroom and descends a gently inclined road for another ½ mile. This road, which serves as a boat-launching access driveway in the summer, terminates on a peninsula that protrudes into Keechelus Lake.
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Keechelus Lake was originally a natural lake of respectable size, but it was greatly enlarged by damming the outlet in 1917 to provide an irrigation-water reservoir for the Yakima Valley. The word keechelus (pronounced KITCH-i-lus) means “few fish” in Chinook jargon. During wintertime, the water level is drawn down 40 feet or more, thus revealing a vast, flat shoreline. From the boat launch peninsula, we could look down-lake and see the outlet dam 4½ miles distant.
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We continued our snowshoe trek by turning right and walking southward across the drawdown flats. Our route took us over several melted-out stream channels, most of which were fairly narrow and had only a few inches of water. However, Mill Creek was considerably wider and deeper, so it required some careful rock-hopping while wearing snowshoes.
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Once across Mill Creek, we entered the “stump farm” portion of Keechelus Lake Flats. This large area is adorned with thousands of tree stumps—the vestiges of an old-growth forest that once grew on the shore of Keechelus Lake. Shortly before the outlet dam was constructed, these trees were harvested for lumber.
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For the next hour, we wandered through Keechelus Lake Flats and marveled at the old-growth tree trunks. Having been seasonally submerged for over a century, these stumps are now stripped clean of all bark and surrounding regolith, thereby leaving their roots and cores fully exposed.
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Some of the trunks measure more than 8 feet in diameter at the cut surface, and some of them have huge roots that extend outward for more than 25 feet—looking much like the arms of a giant sea creature!
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Springboard notches, which had been cut in by the old-time loggers, are visible in nearly all of the trunks. As might be expected, modern-day explorers can’t resist the urge to have a little fun with some of them.
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Approximately ½ mile from the boat launch peninsula, we came to Cold Creek. This stream was even deeper and faster than Mill Creek, so we deemed it our turnaround point. Rather than simply following our tracks back to the peninsula, though, we elected to hike upstream to the lake’s high-water bank and then return via a higher route. The result was an enjoyable “lollipop loop” that made for a satisfying 4-mile snowshoe trek.
Equipment Comments
Due to the relatively gentle terrain involved with the Keechelus Flats Loop, it is ideally suited for trail snowshoes; mountain snowshoes are fine but not required. I would also say that trekking poles are optional; some people in our group used poles but others did not. For more information concerning equipment needed or useful for this trek, see my gear discussions and reviews on the pages linked below.
>>> Trail Snowshoes & Mountain Snowshoes
>>> Backcountry Ski & Snowshoe Packs
>>> Wintertime Comfort Accessories
Route Map
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Photo Gallery
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