I'm trying to plan a bikepacking trip with my family. I'm wanting to ride through the Snoqualmie ridge tunnel and camp at cold creek next to the lake. My kids are pretty good cyclists for their ages (6, 8). Their longest ride (so far) was 8.8 miles around Seattle, 650 feet of gain. So, I figure that the ride on the flat gravel trail through the tunnel would be pretty easy for them. They also like backpacking and camping so all in all this seems like an exciting experience to go through that tunnel.
I have a yuba mundo cargo bike with a 1500w motor. I figure I can use this like a pack animal and basically carry all the supplies on it so that the wife and kids can just ride free.
Right, now I'm stuck trying to figure out access tho. This weekend I went out with my daughter to Annette lake trail and we took two mountain bikes to do recon. We basically had to push our bikes up the first mile to the iron horse trail. Not too bad---we're just not experience mountain bike riders. But I can say there's no way I'd get a fully loaded cargo bike up that trail pushing it. There were a lot of big steps and small turnarounds.
So, what's the next closes access? The map suggests there's another access about 5 more miles west at Mcclellan Butte trail. I haven't yet gone to look and see if it's easier than Annette Lake trail. Does anyone know?
After that, google maps suggests that Homestead Valley may have an access that's not as difficult but the park website is saying there may be trail closures (https://parks.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2026-03/Palouse%20to%20Cascades%20Trail%20Map%202026%20-%20West%20Cascades%20-%20Landslide%20Closue%20-%20March%202026.pdf). Yet, this weekend, when my daughter and I pushed up to the trail and went along to the tunnel, we saw many cyclists coming and going through the trail, which makes me think there must be some relatively easy access (unless they were all based on the East side and were just turning around somewhere west of us). We definitely were the only people pushing bikes up at Annette Lake.
I'm looking for some insider knowledge so I don't have to spend the next 3 or 4 weekends doing reconn. 😄