[Cyclopath]

Washington State Parks has opened a new Sno-Park at Annette Lake along Interstate 90, near the Summit at Snoqualmie. Sno-Parks are designated trailheads that are plowed and maintained during the snowy season with amenities like portable bathrooms. Many offer access to trails for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. The Annette Lake Sno-Park has access to ungroomed marked trails for snowshoeing and backcountry skiing, with room for over 40 vehicles. There is also a toilet and winter kiosk information board at the location. To get there, take exit 47 off I-90, turn right on NF 55 road and then turn left on Asahel Curtis. Continue 0.4 miles to the parking area. https://www.seattletimes.com/life/outdoors/new-sno-park-opens-near-seattle/?amp=1

[Malachai Constant]

Bring your beacons

[Cyclopath]

[Randito]

I think this a good move. There have been large numbers of vehicles parking illegally / chaotically in the Exit 47 area for several years. There is some avalanche exposure along the summer hiking trail to Lake Annette. However that avalanche exposure is substantially less than the exposure that hikers/snowshoers have been undertaking on the otherside of the freeway heading up the Granite Mtn trail. An amazing number of folks igonorantly follow the summer trail right across the avalanche path off Granite's S aspect bowl.

[gb]

[joker]

I bet that most of the folks who park there will either be crossing the highway to hike to Franklin Falls, or taking their kids to the snow play area that's in the picnic area right there. BTW there's decent signage warning of avalanche risk along the trail to Annette Lake.

[BigBrunyon]

Hopefully they're requiring Chains to get in to the lot! I like to remind that Chains are only good of they're ON!!!

[dixon]

Is this free or does it require a pass? The sno park passes are confusing. Some of the areas require a "groomed" permit in addition to the non motorized pass which costs $120 for a few months of the year. Seems pretty expensive for regular folks. Also some days they don't even plow the sno park so you can't access it.

[Cyclopath]

This is confusing, but even though it's called Annette Lake Sno Park, is really on the north side of the highway. Towards Franklin Falls.

[Cyclopath]

[philfort]

From the MBSNF facebook page:

[dixon]

[rossb]

@dixon The state website for the snowparks has the information, but you have to dig around a bit. I believe all of the non-motorized sno-parks can be found via this page: https://www.parks.wa.gov/452/Non-Motorized-Sno-Parks. If you read the description of an area, it should list whether you need a groomed sticker, and whether there are snowmobiles. They haven't updated the I-90 map, but you can find "Asahel Curtis" by scrolling down. There are no snowmobiles, and you don't need a groomed sticker. Along I-90, most of the sno-parks have one or the other, or both. Along with the Asahel Curtis, there is Kendall Lake Road (as lacking both grooming and snowmobiles). Gold Creek is another option. It doesn't require a groomed sticker either. It does have snowmobiles, but only folks accessing their cabins (which means there aren't that many). There may be more, but it wouldn't surprise me if that's it along I-90. Personally, the only reason I pay for a groomed sticker is to go up Amabalis. I do appreciate the grooming, and feel like I get my money's worth. But I've seen people snowshoe there, which seems silly to me. I guess if you have exhausted everything else and want to check it out, then it isn't that expensive. But I would rather snowshoe up to Kendall Peak Lakes, or try out this new option. There are also some logging roads which don't have plowing, but that becomes its own challenge. You might spend a good portion of the day digging out your car, or carrying skis/snowshoes. I-90 has a lot of sno-parks, while other corridors have their own challenges. We should probably start our own thread for that discussion. A "places to go if you don't want snowmobiles or pay for a groomed sticker and/or snowpark" is a worthy discussion. The books are very helpful for that of course. Another good resource I've just discovered for I-90 is this Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/winter.recreation/.

[rossb]

[JimmyBob]

They should just increase the Discover park pass fee or have an add on when you buy it, or have an expanded Discover pass. Too many pass types. Or just get rid of them all and increase taxes.