Ice Caves Trailhead - Big 4 — Attraction in Granite Falls

Beautiful easy hike you can do pretty much any day of the year, been going here for years. However, the safety signage is extremely disappointing. other than at trail head On the way down I saw 3 small rocks asking patrons to stay on the path and 2 dull unreadable rocks with the park emblem, all of them only in English. There is no warning sign at the end about the facts of melting caves and the dangers of entering. There's no fencing keeping anyone from going in. This last time I was there there were many families of different ethnicities or clearly visiting from their home countries. Not only were they entering the caves; they let their children enter; run around screaming playing tag in the caves. I was close enough to see the running water rushing inside the cave walls while families of 10 were running around inside. Not everyone knows people have died there. There needs to be safety signage and a...

Overall, this is a pretty easy hike with a great view. When the bridge is up, you could take a 70-year-old on this hike, and they would do just fine. When I went, the bridge was out, and this made it to be a little adventure. Fording the river was not difficult but took some time. I was able to walk through the river while carrying a toddler. There were lots of people waiting on both sides of the river bed with lots of dogs swimming in the water. Everyone was having a great time. The ice caves are interesting, although I did not get very close, because there were signs about people dying at the ice caves (Avalanche?). The immense vertical slope of the mountain side is very impressive, and reminded me of Yosemite. Parking was spacious....

This is worth the drive if you are near Granite Falls. You need a NW forest pass to park, get one on the way at Verlot USFS Information Center. You can start the hike to the left of the bathrooms which is shorter, or go to the right and pass through the picnic area. The metal bridge goes over a clear and very cold river with a clay beach between the stream and the bridge. The hike up is easy for kids. The real amazing ice caves view is past the end of the trail, up to the right around the hill. There are two amazing cages over there, and it's safer to get close in this upper area...but please don't be stupid and go inside the cave. You have zero mobile service and the nearest hospital is far...