More than 1.5 million visitors come to Snoqualmie Falls each year, making it the most-visited natural attraction in Washington State. Two viewing areas offer different perspectives: the upper deck provides the classic panorama, while a steep trail descends to a lower boardwalk where the spray can soak you on high-water days. The Snoqualmie River's flow varies dramatically with the seasons. During the rainy months from November through March, water can cascade across the entire 100-foot-wide precipice, creating a wall of white that generates its own wind. By late summer, the flow narrows to reveal more of the rock face - still impressive, but quieter, more contemplative.

The Snoqualmie Tribe has occupied this valley continuously for millennia. The falls remain central to their spiritual practice, the place where creation began and where prayer still travels upward. In 1999, the tribe regained ownership of the land surrounding the falls after a long legal battle, and they now operate the concessions and gift shop that serve the steady stream of visitors. The juxtaposition feels uniquely Northwestern: a sacred site where indigenous culture meets tourist infrastructure, where the power plant shares the river with ceremony. The tribe has worked to balance access with preservation, maintaining the falls as both a spiritual center and an economic engine.

Plant 1 of the Snoqualmie Falls Hydroelectric Plant went operational in 1899, generating power for Seattle when electricity was still a novelty. The engineers faced a problem: there was no good location for a conventional powerhouse. Their solution was audacious - they carved 270 feet into solid rock at the base of the falls, creating an underground cathedral for turbines. A second plant followed in 1910, built downstream. Together they still generate power for Puget Sound Energy, though their output is modest by modern standards. The falls predate the dams that transformed the Columbia; they generate power without impounding the river, letting the water fall freely and the salmon run.

Snoqualmie incorporated in 1903, a logging town and railroad stop that served the early timber industry. When the first transcontinental railroad link to Puget Sound was announced, speculators built a competing line from Seattle as far as Snoqualmie before abandoning their plans. The railroad pivoted to tourism instead, marketing the falls as a destination for day-trippers from the city. That impulse never faded. Today Snoqualmie sits on I-90, thirty miles from Seattle, easily reached for a morning waterfall visit before continuing to the ski slopes at the pass. The Northwest Railway Museum preserves the old depot; on summer weekends, steam trains still run the historic grade. The town has learned to live with its tourist identity, small enough to feel quiet once the crowds depart.