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The Roads of Snoqualmie Valley
Enjoy the views and venues of a charming valley 25 miles
from Puget Sound
If you're a "Sound Rider" and you haven't yet
ridden the roads of Snoqualmie Valley, you're missing one of the region's
motorcycling delights. Just 25 miles east of Seattle, the valley is readily
accessible from I-90 on the south and State Highway 522 on the north. The roads,
except as noted below, are lightly traveled, and generally well paved. Fuel and
food are abundant, though you probably won't find any cuisine worth writing home
about (unless you have one of those free e-mail accounts). And there are plenty
of things to see, from majestic Mount Rainier and the Cascades to the heroic
statue of a world-famous milk cow.
Snoqualmie Valley remains largely rural, despite
increasing development sprawling out from the big city to the west. The signs of
development "pressure" are hard to overlook. When your hard-working
reporter recently revisited the valley, I found that I-90's exit 25 now gives
access to the town of Snoqualmie by way of the Snoqualmie Parkway, a road that
does not appear on my 1997 map. Broad, smooth, lined with office parks,
condominiums and apartments, the parkway swoops in graceful curves down a
cleared hillside. Had the terrain not been so hilly, I would have thought I was
still in Redmond. Briefly disoriented, I wondered whether I'd taken a wrong turn
and then marveled at how quickly a remembered landscape can become altered
beyond recognition.
Away from the I-90 corridor the valley retains more of its
rural character, though new houses are rising on the outskirts of Duvall and
other towns, and "Proposed Land Use" signs are popping up like
mushrooms.
The best way to enter the valley, however, is not
Snoqualmie but North Bend. Let us go, then, you and I, along with whoever else
wants to ride along, to I-90 exit 31.
An excellent paper map for this ride is the King of the
Road/Thomas map entitled Bellevue Redmond Kirkland Issaquah; look for the
purple cover. MapBlast
and Expedia
won't produce maps of sufficient size and detail, and if you have GPS and all
that fancy stuff, you've probably skipped this paragraph. Use your good old
low-tech folding roadmap to find exit 31, and bend your front wheel north toward
North Bend.
The entrance road here is North Bend Boulevard. As soon as
it crosses the railroad tracks and intersects the main drag, North Bend Way,
you'll see on your right a bit of valley history: the remains of the Mar T Cafe
(R.I.P. 7/3/00) , where the
clean-cut and secretly kinky Agent Cooper, of Twin Peaks fame, had many a
good cup of coffee and a piece of cherry pie.
There are dining possibilities along the main drag,
but don't be fooled by the sign at the east end of town hawking "The Best
Burgers in the NW"... they're not. They are cheap, and you get what you pay
for. But on a sunny day you can enjoy your cheap burger at a picnic table out
back of the Dairy Freeze and gaze on the craggy face of Mount Si (4,197 ft.),
which dominates the view all along North Bend Way.
North Bend Boulevard continues out of town as State
Highway 202, connecting North Bend with Snoqualmie, Fall City, and -- beyond the
valley's western walls -- Redmond. If you turn right at Meadowbrook Way SE, on
the edge of Snoqualmie, you can soon spot the location for a scene from the
movie Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.
 Highway 202 becomes Snoqualmie's main drag, Railroad
Avenue. The downtown is a railroad junkie's delight. A main attraction is the
Snoqualmie Depot, a fully-restored 1890 railway station. The Northwest
Railway Museum operates this depot, which
includes displays and a bookstore. The museum also operates a sightseeing train,
or "Interpretive Railway," which offers five-mile rides through the
Upper Snoqualmie Valley.
Any kids in your party, whether young or old ones,
will enjoy taking a gander at the object sheltered under the Snoqualmie Historic
Log Pavillion.
Railroad Avenue, heading out of town parallels old
tracks on which are parked dozens of pieces of old rolling stock. Apparently ,this is where the museum keeps its collection of "nearly 100" pieces.
It looks like the place where old locomotives go to die, extinct denizens of a
bygone industrial ecology.
Past the trains and over a bridge, the five-star Salish
Lodge commands the head of Snoqualmie Falls. Signs state that only guests of the
lodge are welcome on its patio, but that's of little concern to a Motel 6 lodger
like your roving reporter: the best views are from the public observation deck,
from which you can see the waters as they make their 268-foot plunge to the pool at the
bottom of the gorge. The falls are beautiful round the clock, but to see them at
night, with floodlights bathing the roaring white waters, is a special treat. A
half-mile trail leads to another observation deck at the bottom of the gorge.
Technically, it's an easy hike, though some will find the return rather
strenuous.
If you enjoy twisties and sweepers, you should try for
a clear shot at 202 as it descends from the head of the falls to the floor of
the Lower Snoqualmie Valley. The next town on our route is Fall City, located at
the confluence of the Snoqualmie and Raging rivers. If you want a break,
continue into town and pull off at the riverside park on your right. If you'd
rather keep riding, hang a right onto State Highway 203; it's the corner with
the gunshop, just after the left-hander that carries you over the river.
Highway 203, or Fall City-Carnation Road, passes
through the Rutherford Slough and other wetlands just north of Fall City. This
highway is the Snoqualmie Valley's main thoroughfare, running northward from
I-90 through Preston, Fall City, Carnation and Duvall, ending a few miles over
the Snohomish County line in Monroe. Like any artery, this one is sometimes
busy, especially on weekends. Should you find yourself behind slow traffic as
you turn onto 203 at the edge of Fall City, try taking the first left onto Neal
Road, which runs alongside the Snoqualmie River and rejoins 203 about 2 ˝ miles
farther north.
Carnation, the next town on our ride, is a good
stopping point if you like "grocery picnic" lunches. Pick up some food
at the QFC on the main drag, then backtrack about a quarter mile to Tolt
River-John MacDonald Memorial Park. It will be on the west side of the road --
the right, as you're backtracking. You can enjoy your sandwiches and cookies on
a table near the river, and the kids in your party can amuse themselves on the
footbridge that crosses the Tolt River. It's an impressive structure, with a
broad, stable "roadbed" and solid handrails. The bridge anchors, with
their massive cables and turnbuckles, are interesting to look at especially if,
like many motorcyclists, you like looking at well -worked pieces of metal.
If you keep your eyes open at the city limits, you'll
see stone pillars with the name Tolt spelled out on their sides. That was the
name of the town till 1917, when it changed its name to Carnation in return for
the milk company's opening a milk-condensing plant nearby.
Carnation Farm Road is a left turn off 203 about a mile
north of Carnation. Carnation is now a subsidiary of the Nestlé company, whose
logo has been lately posted here and there about the farm HQ. But the cows seem
just as contented as they were when Carnation was staunchly independent.
An icon of particular contentment and placidity is the
statue of Segis Pietertje Prospect, the champion milk cow, which stands next to
the road, presenting her expansive flank to the morning sun. Segis gained her
bovine immortality by producing, during her career in the late 1910's and early
'20's, milk and butter at about ten times the average. Along with traffic
congestion, rain, and grunge music, Segis helps to make our region famous: she
is recognized on roadsideamerica.com,
"Your Online Guide to Offbeat Attractions."
Carnation Farm Road makes an ascending left turn just
past the farm. At the top of the hill, on the left, is a parking lot that offers
fine vistas up and down the valley.
Take a right at the next road, NE 80th, which continues
for about a mile across the valley floor. It's flat and fairly smooth, with no
cross-streets and a posted limit of 40 mph. If I were not such a law-abiding
person, I'd be tempted to wick it up just a little here.
At the end of 80th, turn right and proceed north along
West Snoqualmie Valley Road, passing tidy farmhouses that sit on the embankment
to your left, surveying the fields on the valley floor to your right. At the
intersection with Woodinville-Duvall Road you can turn left toward Woodinville
and points west: the road connects with State Highway 522 (go straight onto NE
North Woodinville Way where Woodinville-Duvall Road branches left), which you
can take west to its intersection with I-405.
 A better plan, however, is to go
right (east) on
Woodinville-Duvall Road. If it's a clear day, look to your right as you cross
the valley floor for a view of Mt. Rainier. When you get into town, you can turn
right on 203 to visit its shops, restaurants, and filling stations. The Duvall
Cafe serves breakfast and lunch seven days a week, and while you're waiting for
your food you can browse for old 8-tracks in the collectibles-and-antiques shop
next door. (At Left: The author takes a break with a Duvall
local.)
Or if you're not through riding yet, you can go left at
203 and follow Cherry Valley Road, which branches off to the right a few hundred
yards past the intersection, on a loop through the valley of the same name.
Cherry Valley Road becomes Kelly Road when it turns southward; at the
intersection with Big Rock Road, stay on Kelly till it turns and becomes
Stillwater Hill Road and plunges down the grade to intersect 203 south of
Duvall. Be careful on the way down: the stop sign at 203 appears abruptly, and
cross-traffic moves fast.
Turn right (north) to return to Duvall. From here you
can head west on Woodinville-Duvall Road, or continue north on 203 to Monroe,
which is a gateway to the excellent roads of Snohomish County.
It's been a long day, though, and your hard-working
road scout is heading for home. We'll sample Snohomish County on some other
ride. Thanks for joining me on this one!
Bill Nolan/Summer 00
Bill Nolan is a local rider, member of WMRRA
and regular contributor to Sound RIDER!
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