Olney Falls and Wallace Lake Road


Hike Length: 4 miles roundtrip to Olney Falls
Elevation Gain: 200’
Hike Difficulty: easy
Map: Green Trails Map 142 “Index”
hike overview map


Wallace Lake Road offers a mellow walking experience on a quiet, gated logging road. The road passes through many recently clear cut areas featuring good views of the Skykomish River valley and Cascade mountain peaks. Olney Falls, about two miles from the hike’s start in the town of Startup, provides an easy and scenic destination for a short hike. Those wanting more of a workout can continue walking on the road beyond the falls for many miles. However, only the toughest hikers will be able to reach Wallace Lake, which is a marathon slog of 17 roundtrip miles.

Getting There:

The bus ride is long to the trailhead, over two hours; be sure to get an early start to maximize your “Boot to Butt Ratio” (the ratio of hiking to riding time).

From downtown Seattle, catch the ST 510 express bus and ride it to Everett Station Transit Center [N 47 deg 58 min 29 sec, W 122 deg 11 min 51 sec].

At the brand new, state -of-the-art Everett Station ( which features a waiting room, a train station, Greyhound bus service , and restrooms) catch either the CT 270 or CT 271 bus and ride it the small village of Startup, located on Highway 2. Get off at the second stop on the town, just beyond milepost 26 [N 47 deg 52 min 02 sec, W 121 deg 44 min 16 sec].

Bus service is good on weekends.

The Hike

From the bus stop in Startup, carefully cross to the north side of busy Highway 2 and head east on the highway’s shoulder. After a hundred yards or so, go left (north) onto paved Kellogg Lake Road. Follow this road a shy quarter mile, then go right onto a gated, paved lane, the unsigned start of the Wallace Lake access road.

If the gate is open, there may be logging activity going on, in which case you might want to return to Startup and pick another hiking destination. Logging trucks and associated vehicles tend to drive aggressively, not making for a pleasant experience for lowly pedestrians.

Shortly beyond the gate, the Wallace Lake road crests a hill and turns to dirt. Grass grows in the road’s median suggesting that it is not heavily used. The sights and sounds of civilization are left almost immediately as the road drops down into the boggy flatlands along Bear Creek; a thick growth of alders, maples, and other deciduous trees provide shade along this stretch. Beyond Bear Creek, the road remains flat for a half mile, then ascends to the summit of a modest ridge, where views open up south toward the Skykomish River valley and the 4000’ peak of Mt Sultana.

At the top of the ridge, the road levels out and passes under a power line right-of-way. If the electric field under the crackling Bonneville high-tension lines doesn’t give you a charge, the spectacular view east toward the granitic peaks of Mt Persis, Mt Index, and Mt Baring certainly will. Beyond the power lines, the road descends into the valley of Olney Creek, then crosses the sizeable creek on a bridge located just below Olney Falls. The waterfall is a beauty, featuring multiple cascades of water tumbling down a boulder-filled gorge. For a short hike, this would make an ideal stopping point. The ideal time to see the falls is in spring, when Olney Creek’s flow is swollen by rain and snow melt.

Of course, you can keep hiking along the road if you’re feeling energetic. Beyond Olney Creek, the road starts a long, gradual climb up the north side of the Skykomish River valley. Views get better and better as you gain elevation, and there’s no shortage of vista points due to extensive and fairly recent clear cutting. Fortunately, the clear cuts have grown back a bit; nowhere does the landscape look raw or scalped. 

At the 4.5 mile point, the road passes a signed trail leading to Wallace Falls State Park. This trail would make an excellent hiking option, as the park is beautiful and you can catch a return bus in Gold Bar (see Wallace Falls State Park hike description). 

The road continues ascending for several more miles, finally reaching the signed start of the trail leading to Wallace Lake, 8 miles from Startup. The road crosses the North Fork of the Wallace River just past the trailhead. You’ve climbed about 1700’ to get here.

It’s a 0.6 mile walk on the trail to get to forest-rimmed Wallace Lake. Though the lake is a fairly sizable body of water, it’s not particularly scenic and few people would consider it worth a 17 mile hike to get to. If you do this hike, you must be a true believer in the old German walker’s adage, “The Way is the Goal.”

Getting Back

In Startup, catch the westbound CT 270 bus at the stop on Highway 2 and ride back to Everett Station.

Transfer to ST 510 at Everett Station to get back to downtown Seattle.

Rev 02.18.07