There are several options for making a loop hike to both Wallace Lake and Wallace Falls. I made a lollipop loop by hiking the Woody Trail to the Greg Ball Trail to Wallace Lake. From the lake, I followed the Upper Grade to Upper Wallace Falls and made my way back on the Woody Trail. I also made a pit stop at the Small Falls Interpretive Trail. All trails were clear and in good condition, with the following minor exceptions: Woody Trail: Two small (about 5" in diameter) trees are down across trail. Both are less than a foot off the ground, so they are very easy to step over. Upper Grade: There are some muddy spots and two very small streams to cross. Small Falls Interpretive Trail: There are no interpretive signs. The sign holders are in place, but no signs. There were lots of slugs along the trails today. Wildflowers were blooming, especially along the Upper Grade toward Wallace Falls. Foxglove was particularly prominent. The Woody Trail was busy as usual, but the Greg Ball Trail was deserted. The trek to Wallace Lake is definitely the way to go if you are looking for solitude while at Wallace Falls State Park.

I was two hours behind getting to the trail and arrived at 10AM. Because it was Tuesday, the parking lot was pretty empty which meant the trail wouldn't be too bad either. It was overcast and was misting/drizzling/raining on and off. The trail is pretty clear for the most part. There was water on the trail (due to the rain) and a few mud holes, but nothing that couldn't be easily side stepped. It was a bit humid the higher up you went on the trail which led to some bugs. I had some bug repellent on and replenished halfway up the trail and wasn't bothered by any of the bugs. The trail is pretty easy to follow with no problems. I made it to the upper falls with stops at the lower and mid level falls. The view from the lower falls is beautiful. You're inspired to go further when, from the lower falls viewpoint, you notice the bigger falls in the background.. When you hit middle falls, it's gorgeous! You get to see the falls in their full glory. The upper falls, though not as awe inspiring as the middle falls, are still captivating. It was overcast while I was there, but I still had an amazing view of the entire valley for miles along with the falls. After sitting for a while and having a brief respite at the upper falls, I backtracked down the same trail to leave. There was a hiking trail that went further in past the upper level falls, but I wasn't sure where it led and didn't want to chance getting lost. The hike gets your blood pumping in some places. I've been working out (weights and cardio) for some time now and consider myself to be in above average shape, but I was huffing and puffing through some parts of this trail (particularly the switchbacks). Could be my pace was a bit too fast for my first semi-serious hike. But there was nothing too strenuous that wasn't easy to recover from. I would definitely go back again and bring some friends. Side note: Someone lost a dog on the trail and it was just wandering back and forth following anyone who would say something nice. A couple ahead of me decided to try to find the dog's owner. I added a photo of the dog in case anyone knows who the owner is. It looked well cared for, but as if it may had been there for a few days.

My college buddy Adrian and I hiked the Wallace Falls/Lake loop. Adrian lives in Snohomish, so this hike is in his "backyard" so to speak. I am a South Sounder. Neither of us had hiked here before. Timing was great for a number of reasons. First, State Parks will be charging $10 per car (or buy annual pass) to park here starting July 1st (next weekend). Also, an early start on a Friday meant less crowds - we hit the trailhead a little before 8 AM. Only saw one person all the way up (a few on the way down). Rod, a fine parks worker, not only took our photo at the trailhead, but also provided us with a site map of Wallace Falls State Park. Rod, you represent the parks well. After going under some power lines, we took the Woody Trail turnoff. Made good time to the Lower Falls. Many moss covered second growth trees along the way. The Middle Falls are also visible from this viewpoint and they are spectacular. There is also a covered picnic shelter at this point. Curious chipmunk there. We continued on to the Middle Falls and got many good pix & video. There is also a valley overlook near the Middle Falls. We reached the upper falls, which is the end of the maintained trail. Those falls are less spectacular but also nice in that they flow into a round bowl. We continued on, after reading the warning signs. This was the only part of the hike where you needed to follow markings on trees. We soon reached the upper grade road. This is pretty flat to the lake and was mostly uneventful, save for Adrian's stepping into a sink hole almost to his knee. A major hopla! Adrian was ok and we continued. Began raining upon reaching Wallace Lake. Didn't explore much there. We headed back down and found the turnoff for the Greg Bell trail (ok, its actually Greg Ball, but thought I'd throw that in there for any old LA Rams fans around). Adrian shifted his massive frame into downhill mode and actually reminded me of the former Rams running back as he led us bounding down to the Railroad grade. Nice new-looking composting privy there. Saw a few people on the last stretch back on the Woody Trail. Total distance about 9.1 miles. Great area, glad I found out about it. Hopefully can make it back on a clearer day, but actually this was an ideal hike for overcast weather also. Topped off our trek with lunch at Todos Mexico in Snohomish. I'd recommend it!

Bill, Bob, Alice and I hiked the Wallace Falls - Wallace Lake Loop. This is one of our favorite early season hikes when snow still covers many trails. The Woody and Greg Ball trails are in excellent shape despite the very wet conditions. Yes, there was mud and puddles, but without the great work done on these trails by WTA, the Boy Scouts, the State Parks, etc. they would have been much worse this year. The falls are very impressive this year with hugh flows. A first for us was a large rainbow in the spray from thundering Middle falls. The road section of this loop had sections of major mud and puddles, especially as you near the Lake where there had been lots of runoff from what used to be minor creeks. Don't plan on sitting on the beach at Wallace Lake as it is so high the beaches are currently nonexistent. Stats for this trip are 13 miles and 2,000' gross elev. with a counterclockwise loop of Woody Trail along the River, road to the lake and return via the Greg Ball and RR Grade trails. A stop at the Alpen Drive In in Startup finished another good day on the trails. PS - Bugs are just starting to come out.

Based on the number of other people at the state park today, I decided I better file my report before there were 10 more just like it. I did a nice loop trip following the Woody trail along the river up to the various falls overlook points. It has been at least 10 years since I have been here and the trail was not the morass of roots and mud that I remembered. The river rapids and falls are quite spectacular right now. I would recommend this section of trail if anyone wants a shorter trip. From the upper falls, I followed the blue diamonds and flagging where the trail was very muddy and rooty. The trail did improve when the upper road was reached. There were still occasional muddy spots at low points along the road over to Wallace Lake. I stopped at the lake picnic benches for a snack and then followed the DNR road down to the Greg Ball trail and then down to the Railroad Grade trail. The road walk and the RR grade walk were barely acceptable from an enjoyment point of view but the Greg Ball trail was just as nice as the Woody trail.