Walk In The Woods-Beaver Lake

This hike was PHENOMENAL for us! A level walk in the woods, complete with trillum trail, skunk cabbage, salmonberry blossoms, vine maple leaflets, wild bleeding hearts, new leaves of Herb Robert, the fungus among us, flowing river, foot bridge, beaver dams, beaver den, a few raindrops, dark clouds, white clouds and some sunshine, too! It was about 50 degrees which was a little cool, but once we got going, it was quite refreshing. With the trees just starting to leaf out, the canopy was still quite open and bright. Hardly any elevation, it was just a really nice and easy trek along the Sauk River.

Before you begin at the trailhead, drive across the street to the boat launch for a privy visit.

This trail is 4 miles roundtrip, but the last maybe 1/4 miles is obstructed, so I'd guess we hiked about 3.5 miles roundtrip. There's a spot about 3/4 mile in that is a sandy bank with a skinny path...we were a bit concerned, but decided to go carefully and we're so glad we did because Beaver "Lake" was on the other side.

We always find "guns", so it is tradition to take a gun photo...usually at the very start of the hike do the kids find one! I think this tradition started with the driftwood on our second hike.

Of course, we like to keep things a little crazy, so after our hike, we decided to explore the forest road. Oh my goodness, we were up SO high! I put the van in low gear and crawled at 8mph up the single lane, steep slope. The road reminded me so much of "the loop" where I lived as a child. We found a "lookout", which was quite dangerous as the hillside under where we were standing was washed away. I don't know how far up we were, but the view was incredibly gorgeous. And the rainbow was a personal blessing and surprise for me!
You'll need a FOREST PASS since this hike is in the Mt Baker/Snoqualmie National Forest. We don't do a lot of national forest hikes, so I don't buy an annual pass. I keep a few of these blue $5 day passes in the van at all times. We'll be back to do this hike again, maybe in the early fall. I really enjoyed the flat trail edged with delightful wildflowers. Before arriving at this trailhead (which is on the right side of the road if you're arriving from Darrington) is the Sauk River Trailhead (on the left), another hike we'll want to do.

http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/beaver-lake-1