It had been 10 years since last we hiked this wonderful trail.  It is very well designed and very well built. Yes, you gain 550 feet in elevation, but it doesn't seem like it.  

It was a fine hike for this sunny day.

In the forest part of the trail, there are a couple of viewpoints complete with benches on the way up/down.  They are strategically placed in terms of effort, and clearings/windows in the forest.

Interpretive signs at the trail head, and just before the summit are excellent and very informative. 

The views from the summit were excellent with water and mountain views galore.

Not many wildflowers at this very time of year.

This trail helps prove the point that out-and-back hikes have advantages.  Trees and glacial erratics that we didn't notice on way up we noticed on the way back down because of the change of angle and light.

Staying at a rental home near the trailhead allowed for an early evening hike.  Arrived at the trailhead at 6:25 PM.  The first half of the hike was steady but moderate climbing through Douglas-Fir forest.  After passing a preliminary viewpoint, the trail teased me with a flat section -- now in alder wood -- before the sternest climbing on the hike, turning south and making for the plateau at the top.  The grade eased when the trail turned back north and the vegetation turned to partial grassland, leaving ferns behind.  From there it was a short walk to the top.  There is a short loop at the top; I found the best view, at least at that time of day, to be on a short spur from the north end of it, looking out northeastward over Samish Island.

Total time spent hiking was just under 1 hour.

Four of our Grandnieces/nephews piled into the van for the ferry ride from Anacortes to Guemes Island to climb the Guemes Mountain Trail.  Imagine that. Their last week if summer vacation and they were still willing to drag themselves out of bed for the 8 o'clock crossing.  These four are more fit than I ever was and scrambled to the top way ahead of us, but it's a beautiful, gradually sloping and grassy summit area - nothing dangerous about it and I knew they wouldn't need supervision.  After snacks and photos we all headed back to the van in time to board the 10:00 ferry home.  Making memories, right?

Hike close in with a TH a car can get to, or park in Anacortes and walk. Today the hiking grandmas walked on the little ferry and headed over to Guemes Island to hike up the small hill called Guemes Mtn. A nice short 1 1/2 mile hike to the top with views that let you pretend you actually slogged up to a summit! There are great views of Baker, the Salish Sea, the San Juans, Olys and distant Canadian peaks. We enjoyed a snack on some well placed benches and basked in the sun. On the way back we opted to road walk the other way (right at the TH and cross part of the island on Edens Road, a beautiful road walk thru a marsh and farmland, with little traffic. Turning left onto Guemes Island road at Schoolhouse park, we headed back toward the ferry. There are loos at the park fyi. On the way back we found a small sign that said Labyrinth Open, so we stopped to walk the labyrinth. We were hoping to stop at the General Store for some baked goods and possibly ice cream, but to our immense disappointment, they were closed for repaving the parking lot. We had lunch on the beach before waling back on the ferry for home. Info, check the ferry schedule, we caught the earliest one at 700. There is parking 2 blocks away on K St. This would be a great little bike outing also. Loo at the ferry terminal in Anacortes. Road walk to TH about 2 miles, road walk back about 3 1/2. Total 8 miles/1000 gain. 

We hadn’t been out to Guemes before so we decided to try out Guemes Mountain trail as the weather looked better in the islands than the mountains. My 22 month old was able to hike almost the entire trail and my 4 year old asked if we had made it to the end when got to the top so it was about right for two kids. The parking is quite limited and there is room for 6 total cars, bringing bikes would make the trail parking considerably easier we didn’t investigate whether there were courtesy bikes on the island as mentioned by WTA but I imagine the Community Center/Library would be a good place to ask, which is walking distance from the ferry. It’s a small ferry and it seemed that the line for getting off the island was triple the line getting to the island I’m not sure if this is a quirk of the 4th being a good vacation time or if this is normal for the time of year. We got lunch at the General Store which was a good spot for the kids to run around. 
It’s nice to find trails that have been preserved out of community dedication. The interpretive signage on the trail told how the top of the mountain was protected due to fundraising of 2 million dollars and activism by the community, Skagit Land Trust, and WTA. It’s a spot worth protecting and worth visiting though it’s a short jaunt. Doing the hike as part of a larger bike ride would be an excellent day. Great views towards Cypress and the San Juans towards the top and some great flowers are still blooming. Trailing blackberry alongside the tread is nearly ripe I found one berry which my son happily ate.