There aren’t a lot of hiking options on Lopez Island. This little trail is flat and easy for hikers of all ages. 

Thank you to all who care for this beautiful place. 

Walked this trail with a friend and her two kiddos on a sunny Saturday. We arrived mid-day and there was no problem finding a parking spot at the trailhead. 

The first part of the trail is shaded, winding through the woods along boardwalk and packed dirt trail crisscrossed with a tree roots here and there. About halfway through the trail pops out onto the cliff side and follows the shoreline from up high to a few pretty overlooks. 

The trail dead ends at a sign indicating the private property boundary. Plan ahead and bring your binoculars so that you can hang out here and seal-spot! 

Wonderful, short, easy-going trail on Lopez Island. Binoculars highly recommended. Great spot to watch the seals sunbathing and flapping in the water. Plenty of marine birds as well. No parking pass or fees required at the trailhead, but donations are kindly suggested. Two outhouses available. The mosquitoes were out and a bit of a nuisance. A definite must-see on the island!

It’s always a good day to go to Shark Reef. The trail is in great shape. Easy walk for all ages. 

We found a nice seat on the rocks and watched the seals do their thing. 

Just a few bees. 

Dont forget your binoculars. 

Happy hike-a-thon! https://give.wta.org/fundraiser/1534920

Where should we go on a beautiful, sunny (but cold), mid-winter Saturday? We didn’t want snow, nor want to join the masses on any popular crowded trails.  We didn’t feel up for a really long hike or one with lots of elevation gain or one that had suffered from the winter storms.

After much searching through our guide books and online, we chose Lopez Island.  Not wanting to get up too early, we planned to catch the 9:25 am ferry.  You can make reservations which might be a good idea for the busy season, but we didn’t for this trip.  The ferry was 3/4 empty so reservations weren’t needed after all.

After an enjoyable, uneventful ride, we disembarked and headed south to first check out Shark Reef Sanctuary.  The trail is very muddy between the two board walks. The rest of the trail is in very good condition.  It was high tide so we couldn’t get down onto the rocks but we did see some seals out on the farther rocks.  This is a nice, though short, walk with views of the Olympics and San Juan Island.

After lunch, we drove to Watmough Bay Preserve on the south east corner of Lopez Island.  We studied the map by the outhouse and then took the short trail to the beach.  Lovely views of Mount Baker from this pocket beach.

Just before reaching the beach, a trail heads right, up hill, into the trees.  After visiting the beach, we headed up this trail.  It winds around and eventually comes to a service road beneath some power lines.  At this point, we didn’t see the trail pick up on the opposite side of the service road so we turned right and followed the road less than a quarter mile where the trail picks up again and heads farther south.

The trail wanders through grassy understory and then becomes harder to follow as it quickly, steeply, drops down to the alternate trail head where there is room for 4 cars to park.  We crossed the road and picked up the trail to Point Colville and magnificent views.  There is a loop trail around Point Colville. We went counter-clockwise.  We then returned to our car parked at Watmough Bay Preserve via the road.  The road walk gains considerably less elevation and seemed quite a bit shorter. Our gps estimated the loop to be 2.6 miles total.

There are many more trails to explore on Lopez Island, but since we wanted to catch the 4:20 ferry back to Anacortes, we called it a day and headed home.  We look forward to exploring the Islands more during the winter when the crowds are non-existent and mountain trails are snow covered.