Gold Creek Pond located in Snoqualmie Pass on the ancestral lands of the Coast Salish and Wenatchi People, is one of my favorite summer time picnic spots (I’ll write about a summer visit in another post). In the winter, Gold Creek Pond is a designated Sno-Park, used for snow play and snowshoeing. I have always wanted to go, but being from Florida, I was scared of navigating the mountain pass in the winter, so I never went.
When I saw that our family photographer was doing a winter mini session at Gold Creek Pond, I KNEW I needed to book a time slot to get pictures of my family with our newest baby. I also knew there was no way we could go see snow and only take pictures; my daughter would HAVE to have time to play.
Special Items to Bring
In addition to our normal hiking gear, I packed the following for comfortable snow play:
For the 4 year old:
✔️Sled
✔️Winter Coat
✔️Gloves
✔️Snow Pants
✔️Snow Boots
✔️Hat
For the 4 month old:
✔️Baby Carrier (we use a soft structure Boba 4G) ✔️Fleece bunting
***I wish I had remembered that it’s easy to get sunburn while playing on snow. I would also recommend sunscreen and sunglasses for everyone (especially the kids).
Required Passes
A Sno-Park pass, is required to park at the Sno-Parks from November - April. Passes can be purchased online. Gold Creek Pond requires a Non-Motorized pass which is $25 for the day or $50 for the season. When I purchased the pass, I was emailed a temporary pass that I could print off until my official pass arrived in the mail.
Getting to Gold Creek Pond in the Winter
Gold Creek Pond is located near the Snoqualmie summit. Mountain weather can be unpredictable and change fast in the winter. Because of how quickly weather can change on the pass, all passenger vehicles are required to carry chains through the passes from Nov 1- March 31, even if you have AWD! Typically, AWD vehicles are exempt from chain requirements, but you can still get a fine if you are pulled over and do not have them.
Lucky for us, the roads were bare and dry the whole way.
Gold Creek Pond is right off of I-90. Because we went early in the season (November 21), we were able to make it to the summer trailhead, which is after a freshly paved road followed by a forest road that is FULL of potholes. In addition to the potholes, the road is not plowed in the winter, so it was compacted with ice the day we went. It was not slippery with AWD. Take this road slow and it shouldn’t be an issue. We have a high clearance SUV, but we saw sedans at the trailhead.
Once snow levels reach a certain point or the forest road is no longer safe, the rangers will close it for the season. You will have to park along the paved road and hike on the forest road into Gold Creek Pond. The state website says there are 200 parking spots available in the winter, but they do fill up fast, so get there early!
(Photo Credit: All Trails)
Exploring Gold Creek Pond and Snow Play
When we first got to Gold Creek Pond, we spent some time in the parking lot, as we usually do, because I needed to feed the baby before we went to play. From the car, we were entertained by three Steller's Jays playing in the snow and the trees. They looked like beautiful ornaments when all three were perched on the tree!
The trailhead does have one vault toilet. It was open when we went, but I imagine it closes when the heavier snow comes. The vault toilet was overflowing with trash, as it usually is in this location. Even the signposts leading into the trailhead were stacked with trash. Please pack out what you bring into nature. It is okay to drive home with your trash and dispose of it in your own bin that is more regularly maintained!!
To get to the pond from the parking lot, you will follow a short path, that will eventually fork at a sign. Go right to make the mile loop around the pond, or go left to get to the pond. We went straight to the pond to meet our photographer.
After pictures it was time to play! We went back to the car to clean up the biggest diaper blowout of the century, then get our sled and snow gear. Our daughter was itching to get back to the pond to play. She even started playing on her sled in the parking lot, which I do not recommend, since it was basically ice.
When we went back to play we went left at the fork again, straight to the pond area where there are some great small sledding hills for little ones, or a first time sledding Floridian. There were some bigger hills if you kept walking. These hills were used by the bigger kids who were even making ramps. I didn't think my little could handle those quite yet, so we stuck to the small hills right after the bridge.
The day before we went, it was warm. I am assuming the snow melted a bit and refroze overnight because it was like sledding down ice. I would recommend sledding in gloves even when it’s warm out, just incase you crash like I did. I scrapped up my hand pretty bad on the ice. It was still a lot of fun!
After sledding, we walked around to take in the views. I like to say that even though Gold Creek Pond is man-made, its one of the best low-effort views you can get.
My daughter of course had to throw something in the water. Usually rocks are her go to, but when there’s snow, one must throw snowballs!
Gold Creek Pond is a magical place and we didn’t want to leave. But by this time, we had been playing in the snow for three hours and it was time to go. On the walk back to the car my daughter said, “This was the best day ever!” She was asleep before we even made it back to I-90.
Post contains information from visit on 11/21/21
About PNW Mom
Hi! I am Heather, a mom to young kids that love exploring. I write about the kid friendly trails I hike with my kids and how to make those hikes engaging and tolerable. I also post itineraries for the trips we go on, showing what is doable with young kiddos. I spend my days researching the next place to explore with my babies and I hope my blog helps you get out into the wilderness with your young ones too!
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