The lower and upper Sno Parks were clear of snow and ice however there are large potholes on the road so you will want a vehicle with decent clearance, an accord would struggle for example.

We snowshoed the main trail to the yurt. It was 5.41 miles and took 3 hours 20 minutes. The trail transitioned from light slush to bare patches to deep snow where the snowmobile is unable to get to to clear. The route is very well signed.

The return hike on the Lower Yurt Trail was 5.44 miles and 2 hours 42 minutes. This was a much flatter route that goes around the mountain instead of over, but it tended to have deeper untouched snow. Overall it was much easier. The route is less obviously signed in places and requires paying some attention!

The yurt was well stocked and clean. We really enjoyed our stay!

Stayed at Snow Bowl last night (Sunday-Monday) and tons of nice fluffy powder the whole way. Everyone please put your chains/cables/socks on regardless if you think you need them and park in the lower lot. Sunday we had a scary close call with a car sliding towards us down the road (we were on foot) and saw a few stuck vehicles, then today we saw 4 more stuck and one with chains take a scary slide, all between upper and lower. 

The video at the bottom is from last year of totally different conditions but shows a lot of the trail. This video shows a tour of Snow Bowl and the viewpoint: https://youtu.be/ATECnXYNEP0

Road/Parking: The pit toilet at the lower lot was stocked and relatively clean. There is snow the entire way, as soon as you leave the highway and turn onto Rd 1, so right when you make the turn is a great place to chain up. We made the mistake on the way in of not doing it right away, had a bunch of sliding on the first little downhill near the beginning and did it right at the bottom. Much much better but we still had a little trouble in a couple narrow sections where we had to pass other cars going the other way and the non-chain wheels wanted to slip into the ditch. We lived 15 years in one of the snowiest cities in the country, so we know how to drive in snow but this was very slick. We have AWD but just all-season tires. 

We walked between the lower and upper lot and on Sunday saw a couple stuck vehicles, then a couple coming down doing a lot of sliding. One stopped to put on chains, and we were walking around it when another car came sliding down behind it and when it tried to get out of the way it started sliding again, but this time I was downhill of it between it and the drop off. Very scary, but ended ok. One of the people got out of the upper car and fell immediately, then a couple more times before getting back in. On Monday we came across a roadblock of 4 vehicles, all stuck. Some with and some without chains. One had a winch and all terrain tires, but was still struggling. After we passed them and had a little distance, the most downhill one (with chains) broke loose and started sliding downhill until it caught a snowbank. 

You can find status updates here: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialMTTAInformation/ 

Trail: We only did Snow Bowl, but most of the trail is shared between High Hut and the Yurt, so I tagged them too. We were able to put snowshoes on right at the lower lot. There was fresh plowing today so there wasn't as much snow, but we were slipping all over when we tried it without them on the way down. Spikes would have been nice but we left them in the car so we put the snowshoes back on. 

We broke trail all the way down today and there is a solid foot or two of fluff in most places. We could barely even see our tracks from the day before. Not much for views, but a nice trail with a steady incline/decline, not real steep, but a steady grin on the way up. The snow loaded trees made the place look like a wonderland but they were dropping a lot of snow bombs. The trail is really well marked with lots of signs with milage info. 

On the final approach to Snow Bowl the trees open up and were were getting just pelted with wind/snow on the way up. Burr! It was cold but pretty pleasant up to that last bit and it made us super grateful to reach the warm hut. 

This fan page often has trip reports from fans and ski patrol and notes about the hut: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MountTahomaTrails & https://www.facebook.com/groups/280464006551221

Stats:

Up - 4.3 miles, 2000 ft elevation gain, 75 ft loss, 2.5 hours moving, 3 hours total. 

Down - 4.3 miles, 75 ft elevation gain, 2000 ft loss, 2 hour moving, 2.25 hours total. 

Hut: Everything is provided to collet, melt, and filter snow for water. Sometimes there is a pump that uses rain water but it wasn't working this week. The place is fully stocked with dishes, pot, pans, tea kettles, utensils, cleaning supplies, first aid etc. Mugs are in a drawer. The only think we didn't find was a large colander for draining pasta but we might have missed it inside something else. The kitchen is a little tight when multiple people are cooking so you might want to bring something relatively quick/simple. 

It is all self service, clean up after yourself, pack out everything you pack in, and leave it cleaner than you found it for the next person. The hut even has its own large collection of games and basic art supplied. There is limited solar power that powers the lights and backup lanterns. The heat and stove are propane, a large tank that needs to last the winter. There are flip flops to wear inside and a variety of rubber boots to wear to the outhouse (which was well stocked, including a motion light, good tp and hand sanitizer. There are lots of hooks for hanging/drying things and a pulley system for a hanging rack on the stairs. We were impressed by how quickly things dried here. 

Ski patrol is an awesome group of volunteers who have their own quarters downstairs and may stop by to say hi or stay the night. 

The bunk area is upstairs, with a few bunk beds and a bunch of comfy floor mats. They had a few pillows up here and a foldable baby play pen/crib. 14 doesn't leave much floor space so you might have to get creative with the mat layout. I highly recommend ear plugs and and eye mask. 

The view from the hut is incredible on a good day, but the gazebo, about 500 ft down the trail is really the star. It is perched on a peninsula with cliffs falling away on 3 sides for an amazing view, which can include Adams and Mount Saint Helens, as well as Rainier. The garden up there is really a special place with all kinds of fun adornment. 

Hut info and video with how everything works: https://skimtta.org/information-page-brunis-snow-bowl/

Winter wonderland!! Absolutely beautiful snowy adventure snowshoeing up to the yurt for a night.

A few things to note:
-road is fine /a few potholes but should be manageable for any vehicle. AWD certainly helpful. Some snow at the upper lot but not deep
-trail in amazing condition. It was not groomed when we were hiking up but was being groomed on our hike out
-reminder snowshoe on the side to keep trail safe for skiers
-we did not use spikes and put our snowshoes on about 3/4 mile up from the TH
-no animal sightings but lots of adorable animal tracks in the snow
-the yurt now has an enclosed area under the stairs to store wet gear /poles /snowshoes etc. pls use it to keep moisture out if yurt 🛖
-the yurt is adorable. Second time staying there. It is cozy & warm. There’s a lovely new table too!
-massive thanks to all the incredible MTTA volunteers! They do incredible work. Thank you!

Truly a beautiful trail system. Such a fun & beautiful winter adventure!

Happy trails! ❄️❄️❄️

Winter wonderland!! Absolutely beautiful snowy adventure snowshoeing up to the yurt for a night.

A few things to note:
-road is fine /a few potholes but should be manageable for any vehicle. AWD certainly helpful. Some snow at the upper lot but not deep
-trail in amazing condition. It was not groomed when we were hiking up but was being groomed on our hike out
-reminder snowshoe on the side to keep trail safe for skiers
-we did not use spikes and put our snowshoes on about 3/4 mile up from the TH
-no animal sightings but lots of adorable animal tracks in the snow
-the yurt now has an enclosed area under the stairs to store wet gear /poles /snowshoes etc. pls use it to keep moisture out if yurt 🛖
-the yurt is adorable. Second time staying there. It is cozy & warm. There’s a lovely new table too!
-massive thanks to all the incredible MTTA volunteers! They do incredible work. Thank you!

Truly a beautiful trail system. Such a fun & beautiful winter adventure!

Happy trails! ❄️❄️❄️