Ira Spring Trail - Mason Lake

Location: Snoqualmie Pass
Length: 6.5 miles roundtrip
Elevation: Gain/2420 ft. Highest/4320 ft.
Difficulty: Easy-Moderate
Time: 5 hours

People were parking on both sides of the very narrow road leading to the trailhead and I about lost my shit over it. When there’s only room for one car to pass one way and traffic is coming both ways, it creates a lot of dangerous and extremely inconvenient maneuvering. And frankly, this hike isn’t worth THAT much trouble. But after a lot of swearing, I managed to get a parking spot in the trailhead parking lot which I took as prize for my suffering.

This day was particularly hot, so the timing might be off as far as what kind of pacing a cooler day might warrant. The trail starts on a gentle grade in the forest and about 1.5 miles in, there’s an unmarked fork where the left side goes uphill and the right continues straight. We continued right and were very confused about where we were going and I read after the fact that the WTA directions say to go left. I know that Mount Defiance and Bandera Mountain trails are in the vicinity. The trail opens up into a rock field with switchbacks guiding you to ever better views of Mt. Rainier. If anything, this view alone makes the hike worth doing. It was a clear days and Mt. Rainier was taking up your whole view. The trail forks again with Mason Lake on the left and Ira Spring ‘summit’ on the right. Since the day was a scorcher, we opted for the lake. You have to descend 300 ft to the neat little lake. I saw signage for the Mt. Defiance trail among the shoreline. The lake and Mason Creek near the beginning of the trail are your main water sources. The trail is pretty family friendly although the descent to the lake might be a bit steep for less agile folks. If you can, do this trail on during the week—otherwise the crowdedness takes away from the experience and safety of your vehicle.

Beautiful Mt. Rainier

Mason Lake

Directions: Take I-90 toward Snoqualmie Pass and take exit 45. Take a left at the stop sign and head underneath the freeway, then take another left onto FR-9030. Stay left and the road will end at the trailhead.