Did this hike on a whim after seeing the turnoff on the road to mount constitution and I am so glad I did! Just a short descent and you’re immediately greeted with a sign directing you to four different waterfalls. I went to the right first and the. Tracked back and went to the left to see them all. Wide, easily managed trail for all abilities. Will definitely add this one to my list to come back to 😊 #HikeTheState

Easy and well maintained trail to some pretty falls. Love to get in on a warm day!

Made a long "highlights" loop from the Cascade Lake day use area. Hiked up to Mount Constitution, down to Twin Lakes, along the east side of Mountain Lake, and then along the Falls trail before heading back to Cascade Lake. Got started around 10:30am and ended around 4pm with an hour at the top of Mt. Constitution for lunch. It was a really great way to experience all of the different landscapes within the park without using a car and while largely avoiding crowds. I only encountered 3 other people on the way up to Cold Spring - obviously around Cold Spring and Mount Constitution there were a lot more groups and families. Things were relatively quiet again heading down to and around the Twin Lakes. The Mountain Lake loop was an absolutely gorgeous rolling lakeshore trail, pretty popular with folks with dogs. I had the creekside trail from Mountain Lake to Cascade Falls to myself until hitting the falls themselves. All of the trails were in good condition and nice and shady on a warm sunny day. 

We started out at 8:45 this morning with the intention of doing an out and back hike up Constitution--actually, to Little Summit, which I prefer because it's more off the beaten track and has the same 'wow' level of views. The hike up, past Cold Springs, is a good uphill trek (circa 2000 feet, starting at Cascade Lake TH) and well-signed. Once we reached the ridge up top and started nearing Little Summit, though, the day's gale warning was in full effect. Edelman and I each, independently,  began eyeing the surrounding swaying trees and felt motivated to get off that ridge. So, we continued till we were .2 miles from Little Summit, decided we didn't feel an urgent need to see the view from there , and took the steep, narrow 1.2 mile trail down to Mountain Lake. After a hurried lunch in the breeze, looking out across the lake, we hooked up with the trail to Cascade Falls, then continued to Cascade Lake and our car. RT was about 9 miles. Before I forget , we wanted to give a shout out to the WTA trail crew we ran into as we left the Cascade Falls area. They were putting in some fine-looking stairs. Thank you very much for all your hard work! Highlights of the route we took today: the section from Mountain Lake past the falls and then on to Cascade Lake. The 1.9 miles from Mountain Lake to the falls is mostly spent walking alongside pretty Cascade Creek, paralleling it closely and passing two smaller falls in addition to Cascade. After that stretch,  as you head to Cascade Lake, you walk through a Grove with giant old growth cedar and Doug firs. Just gorgeous. In fact, Moran has many beautiful old growth trees.

Today we saw 2 bikers and 2 hikers in 4.5 hours. Conditions were very windy at times, drizzly, and chilly. A Washington native born and bred, I accept the fact of Junuary. But Mabruary? Flora today included wild strawberry blossoms, salmonberry flowers, buttercups, and a few lovely Camas flowers (see pic). Happy hiking, Everyone!

Spent a week at Moran State Park working with a WTA crew building steps along a steep, eroded section of the trail leading down to Cascade Falls.  This was one of the many Volunteer Vacations WTA offers during the spring/summer months.  It was an excellent week: great project at a beautiful and popular site; excellent accommodations and yummy food; the best crew leader and co-workers possible.   I encourage enyone who wants to experience 5 back to back days of trail work to take advantage of WTA’s Volunteer Vacations!