The spring in the PNW means the weather is all over the place. Blue skies and 85° followed by gray, rainy and 50°, anyone?! 🤪
Needless to say, when you have a spring weekend that’s warm and sunny, you take it outside!!
Last spring, we had a weekend just like that.
The weather was just about perfect, so we looked on AllTrails for a Washington hike that would be a good location to meet up with the in-laws. We ended up deciding to head to Moulton Falls Regional Park to explore and hunt some waterfalls. We had a great time and decided it would be a wonderful place to visit in any season.
None of us remembered hearing about Moulton Falls, but it was a great location and we all really enjoyed ourselves. I wouldn’t really call the walking we did that day a “hike”, but we did get in some movement and exploring together. Our goal was really just to find waterfalls and enjoy the sunshine, so we were happy! If you’re up for a bigger adventure, there is Bell’s Mountain Trail that starts by the falls – we would love to come back and check it out sometime!
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Visiting Moulton Falls Regional Park
Logistics and Amenities
Parking
When you arrive, there are two parking lots. You can park in either. In addition, there is also an overflow parking area along NE Lucia Falls Road, just past the turnoff to NE Sunset Falls Rd.
Where to Picnic
If you head back into the park, just down the road on your right, you will see picnic tables. This is where we stopped and grabbed a picnic table to enjoy lunch with John’s parents. Surprisingly, it was quiet – we were the only ones using the picnic tables on a beautiful Saturday at lunch! Needless to say, we were shocked we had it to ourselves. You could also head down by the river and find a spot if you don’t need a table.
When we were done eating, Garrett was running around exploring and came up to me and said “MOM! Come here! I HAVE to show you something!”
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Yacoult Falls
I followed him down past the picnic tables and saw that he had discovered Yacolt Falls. From the walkway, you can get a pretty good view of the falls. But, if you’re a little braver, you can scramble down some of the boulders and get a little closer. There aren’t any barriers past here, so keep hold of kids and be smart! I grabbed a spot and just sat to watch and listen to the falls with G for a while. Then, everyone else came down to join us and explore a little more, before we headed on.
Moulton Falls Bridge
After we finished at Yacoult Falls, we followed the trail towards the Moulton Falls Bridge that crosses over Lewis River. The water under the bridge is surprisingly clear and is this amazing shade of green. We took a little time to explore down closer to the river and to take in the views from the bridge.
Moulton Falls
Next, we headed back down the trail on the short walk to Moulton Falls. The falls here are smaller, but still really beautiful. Once we got there, we found a spot along the edge of the river where we could relax and let the kids explore and scramble around on the rocks for a while. They kept busy finding smaller rocks to toss in the river…and bigger rocks to see who could make the biggest splashes! Eventually, everyone had their fill of this spot and were getting hungry again, so we made our way back to the cars to head to dinner with family.
Final Thoughts on Visiting Moulton Falls Regional Park
For a relaxing walk and lovely scenery, we highly recommend Moulton Falls Regional Park for a Washington hike.
If you’re up for a bigger adventure, add a hike on Bell’s Mountain Trail and tell us how you enjoy it. We would love to go back in the future and pair the two!
