Gold Creek Sno-Park

Such a fun place!
This sno-​park is on the opposite side of the road from Hyak. We arrived just shy of noon and it was pretty packed. Parking would have been free if I’d remembered my Discover Pass, but as I forgot it, it cost me $ 20.
People were generally friendly and good about taking turns. The hills were not too steep, and my little ones were comfortable going up and down without much hand holding.
Bathrooms (porta-​potties) were close to the entrance, and the summit us just a short hop up the pass if you desire a nosh.
Definitely a great way to spend the day!

Good luck trying to use this place. Parking is completely full and who knows where the sledding hill is located at. We ended up parking outside the sno park. Glad we didn’t pony the money for the pass up front only to be turned away like some others we met. With all the snow that falls on the Snoqualmie pass area it is a shame that the public lands are so hard to enjoy.

Fun place for the kids. The sledding hill isn’t too tall but it is still a lot of fun. You can build a snow cave off to the side.

Awesome place if it isn’t busy. BUT, because it’s so easy to get to, there are always mobs of people. And, because it’s also a dog friendly area there is a TON of feces left behind because it’s almost impossible to find responsible pet owners that actually pick up after Fido. Or utilize a leash. In such a heavily used area it is ESSENTIAL that we are diligent about cleaning up and controlling our dogs. Yes, I am a dog owner and bring him along all the time.
So we came with a mission to find a place to go sledding. The kids (10 & 13) found the nearby Hyak hill to be «weenie» so we tromped up the Gold Creek trail to find a more dangerous slide amongst the trees. About ½ mile up the trail (right where it’s blocked off and levels off a bit, there is a decent slide that we spent an hour or so challenging death and winning.

20 bucks gets you a parking permit. Yea, I know, that’s a lot of money, but I live in California, about 2 and a half hours from snow, so I had to do some sledding while in Washington visiting family.
I got the permit at the Hyak snow park, and their sledding hill was CLOSED. Nice. The kid hill was open, but it was right next to the water treatment plant, so I decided to pass on that one.
Across the freeway there was Gold Run Sno Park. After wasting most of my time at the field next to parking lot, doing a whole lot of weak sledding, I decided to go up the trail across the bridge. Good thing too. After about a quarter mile, the road angles up for a LONG relatively gentle slope, nicely grooved for sledding. If I knew about that earlier, I would have given 3 stars, but it was kind of choose your own adventure, any no body at the ranger station will tell you where anything is.
One more note. If you choose Hyak, don’t bring any sled with ‘metal runners’ because they are banned. I made a sled out of skis and I am sure it would have been banned if I went to Hyak, but because Gold Run is unsupervised, I got away with it.
If you know of a place the locals go sledding, go there, don’t waste money on a RIP OFF Washington state RIP OFF parking RIP OFF pass.
20 Bucks to park a car on the side of a street and play in 2 feet of snow.