Wow what a great set of trails in this overlooked state park! The trails are being reclaimed by nature especially on the Wilbert and ridge trails but it was interesting to loop the old campground and adventure on the hobbit trail where the local Calyx kids set up an adventure course that really appealed to my 2 and 5 year old. We diverted to the ancient Cedar tree and had a cookie break before continuing to through the the rest of the park. There was an abundance of large old growth trees and snags that made for fun hiding places and an epic game of hide and seek. Bonus was explaining the phone booth to my son who had never seen one and was baffled and befuddled that cellphones didn’t have great reception in the past. The only other phone we encountered on our hikes was the Stehekin satellite phone. Which he was also fascinated by. It’s a great option hike for when the king tides are in and the beach isn’t the most accessible. We still love to find new gems on the winter island hop hikes.

I wandered the forest trail, the beach trail, through the overgrown campground, up the fairy trail, up and down an unknown trail until utilizing Google to finally find the ridge trail and then took that back to the parking lot. Some hikers may find the last bit of the beach access trail challenging. 

Nice day, hardly any people, wonderful big cedar tree. 

We did a day trip on Whidbey Island and stopped by South Whidbey State Park. None of us had proper hiking shoes and the trail was muddy, so we only did the easy short forest loop trail that was about 0.6 miles total. It was a lovely mini adventure.   

Some of the snow from last night lingered in this area of the island later into the day.  The crisp contrast between the snow and the ferns/salal was a lovely.  The walk down to the beach was great.  a few muddy bits were slippery, but nothing more.  The signs about the last 50 feet being tricky were spot on.  Absolutely doable to those without limitations and concerns about a little mud on the pants.  The benefit is getting access to a beach with no one else on it (unless you want to count the eagles up in a snag).  The water sounded more ocean-like - crashing onto the shore.  The clear weather makes views so very enjoyable.

We love hiking in this area! Even with the recent windstorm damage & lots of fallen trees, we still had lots of fun, there was just more navigating our approaches over or under trees! (Our kids thought this was amazing fun)! We paid homage to the ancient cedar (may it live 500 more years)! And after our main hike, we traversed the beach trail (very easy .3 of a mile under the very end). They have signs about the final 50 feet or so being difficult. With a little clambering (and carrying kiddos down the last bit) it was no issue to make it down to the beach. But those with little climbing skill, bad knees or bad hips probably should not attempt it. The beach is a beautiful sandy shore looking towards the Olympic Peninsula (saw a Blue Heron glide right above the water while there). Overall, more of a climbing & scrambling day than originally thought, but lots of fun on this clear & calm November day!