I decided it was time to try a longer bike and hike so this time I opted for The Chuckanuts - mainly because it's fun to say. DIRECTIONS: From Lynden go South on the Hannegan Rd to E Wiser Lk Rd. Stay on E Wiser Lk Rd through the traffic circles. At Northwest Dr, turn Left. Enjoy The Cheese Shoppe or local farm stands (I bought a peach for $0.17!) and the beautiful scenery. Turn Left onto DuPont St and continue to Prospect St. WARNING: Google maps will tell you all this hooey about taking Champion to Magnolia then following S Bay Trail to Chuckanut Dr and then going South. I can tell you from experience this is a waste of time. If you want a an amazing bike workout take Chuckanut. But for a much better ride that is safer and more scenic skip that noise and take Interrurban Trail instead. DIRECTIONS CONT.: When you get to the downtown Bellingham bus station on Prospect St. go to Railroad Ave and follow it down the alley way past New Moon and the community gardens. Take the scenic S Bay Trail to its end - beautiful beaches for miles! Then turn Right onto 10th Ave, Left onto Douglas Ave, Left onto Cowgill, Right onto Chuckanut Dr and follow it South to the North Entrance of Larrabee State Park. No parking or state park passes are required in this section of the park. Take Interrurban Trail instead of Chuckanut Dr! You can access the Interrurban Trail at Fairhaven Park by the tennis courts or 1.2 miles South at Arroryo Park on Old Samish Hwy off Chuckanut Dr. Not only is the trail more scenic, it's built for walkers and bikers - so you're in excellent company and a lot safer with no cars or construction around you. It's WAY FASTER than taking Chuckanut. Be advised the trail is not continuous and breaks for roads and private property - keep an eye for trail markers and other bikers to help you if you get confused as to where to go. Halfway down the Interrurban Trail is a road to the Left called Highline Rd which connects to a very steep, very rocky, very gnarly road known as Cleator Rd. If you go up Cleator Rd you will find some beautiful shots of the San Juan Islands. At 0.9 miles up you will see a wooden sign for Larrabee State Park, a bench and some parked cars. This trail, I was told by a fellow hiker and her lovely dog, is called Two Dollar Trail (although she said it had many names given to it by the locals). I hiked this beautiful trail with the intention of following it to Fragrance Lake Trail (to which is connects) then down to the new Rock Trail farther South in the park. Sadly because I had taken Google Maps advice and followed Chuckanut Dr rather than Interrurban Trail I had spent the bulk of my time biking and had to turn back after about 2 hours of hiking so as to be on my way home on the last 25X to Lynden. No matter! I shall be back to finish this trail route and see the new Rock Trail which has come so highly recommended. NOTE: If you get lost and need directions or help finding the trailhead you want, call Larrabee State Park directly at 1 360 676 2093. The books Hiking Whatcom County has an excellent topographical map as does Day Hike! North Cascades which helped me immensely on this trip.

This is an awesome hike to take people visiting the Bellingham area. We accessed the Chuckanut Ridge trail from Cleator Rd, and just parked the car on the side. We did this as a sunrise hike, so it was about 4am at this point and it was dead. The trail up to the ridge is fairly steep (there is a nice view of the islands at one point), but once you get to the ridge, its not bad. Once the trail gets to the ridge, keep left. Along this part, there are some phenomenal Baker/Bellingham views. We are able to pick out all of our neighborhoods, and it was really neat to see how they looked in relation to the rest of Bellingham and the surrounding mountains. Not to mention, Baker silhouetted against a pink/purple pre sunrise sky was pretty beautiful. Next time, I would want to time it so that the sun was rising at this point (about 30-45 minutes into the hike). Anyway, from the Chuckanut ridge trail, we took Dan's Traverse down the the Lost Lake Trail. We took a right here, and followed it until we saw a sign for raptor ridge to the left. We followed this trail through thick trees and ferns, uphill but not horribly steep, until we popped through the trees onto the Raptor Ridge. Raptor Ridge is a rocky outcrop, with a view of rolling evergreen covered mountains as far as you can see. We were told on a really clear day, you can even see Rainier in the distance. On this morning, we just soaked up the sun as it peaked over the hills. So close to Bellingham, but felt so far away. Anyway, it was overall about a 7 miles hike, and I think really doable for anyone who is reasonably fit - definitely wouldn't have to be in amazing shape or anything. It took us about 1 or 1.5 hours to get to Raptor Ridge, and we were trudging (to early for coffee). Really cool!!

I hiked this trail solo and it was perfect for the day. It was a bit overcast this morning so I decided not to do a long drive into the mountains, but opted for a shorter drive, longer hike, and another hour of sleep this morning. This trip begins at the North Chuckanut trailhead (no pass needed!) and starts out with some switchbacks and many junctions. Basically, always stay right. At about 2.2 miles is the start of the Chuckanut Mt. trail. This is one of the least used trails in the area and I only saw three people this day. It's about a 3.5 mile stretch of trail with the best views within the first .5 mile or so. Still, the trail is fun with lots of ups and downs, and some true lowland ridge walking. There are sections that are rugged, and others with sharp drop offs. I wouldn't bring inexperienced kids or dogs on this trail since a wrong step could be serious. About 5.5 miles from the trailhead is the Cyrus Gates Lookout and beginning of the Rock Trail. After a quick bite to eat with some views out to the sound, I took the always enjoyable Rock Trail down to the Lost Lake Trail and then back to the trailhead making for a very nice loop of about 12 miles and enough elevation gain to make it a decent workout. This is one of the nice loops one can do in the Chuckanuts which seem to have an endless amount of interesting loops. My after-hike stop was at See's for a bag-o-chocolate since it seemed like the right thing to do.

Trail in good shape, a bit muddy in spots from the mountain bikers. Some of the friendliest people I have ever seen on the trail. Even the joggers' say hello, not common on Seattle hikes or in Seattle period. Great views, a 60 degree day in January, really nice people and a quiet forest made for a wonderful day. Get a map of the park, there were some cut offs that were not marked and I was confused as to which way to go but I made it ok. Map not a must, just a suggestion.

We decided to brave the hike even though there was intermittent showers on the way to the trail head, and I'm so glad we did. The trail was in excellent shape, and although it was busy with joggers and trail bikers on the lower end (Lost Lake Trail, Hemlock Trail) once we hit the Ridge cut off and continued up, up, up we only passed two other people. Due to the clouds, the view was a bit socked in but I'm already looking forward to taking this route again on a clear day. Lots of pretty little streams and amazing rock formations. We stopped just after getting to the Chukanut Ridge cut off and had lunch on a big mossy rock. It was so quiet we almost hesitated to even talk. After packing up we continued on our way up and took in some great vistas. It started to rain again so we made the choice to head back, and boy am I glad we did. Thirty seconds after getting in the car the heavens opened up and we would have been soaked. All in all a great day on a great trail. We did about 5 miles round trip and gained 1400 feet in elevation.