One thing you can say about cold, wet, foggy weather in a resort town on Memorial Day Weekend: most folks aren't into gallivanting around in the woods. Buy I am, and one other person I saw over my 7-mile hike on Turtleback. I'd never explored the Turtle's head till today, and didn't know what I was missing! It's a fragile environment of mossy rock, wind-blasted, stunted Doug firs, and on a clear day, views out to the northwest, across President Channel and the San Juan and Canadian Gulf islands. Today, heavy banks of fog pushed in and engulfed Turtleback Mountain, creating a ghostly, primeval ambience. Near the top, Camas flowers stood at their prime. On the way to the "head," tiny wild strawberry flowers and several other varieties of tiny, spring blossoms lined the trail.

To getTurtlehead Preserve , park at the North Trailhead, right by the old Crow Valley one room schoolhouse. 1.5 miles in ( and up!), there's a turnoff for Turtlehead. Today I first headed towards Ship Peak, taking the Raven Ridge route, but got soaked by rain and heavy fog, and chilled, so only hiked about .8 miles up the ridge. Glad I pulled a u-ey and decided to explore Turtlehead on the way back. Trail system is in excellent condition. Lush green today, gorgeous. RT was 7 miles. Lots of cutoffs to viewpoints along the way, too. Happy hiking,  All!

North trailhead —> turtlehead. Port-o-potty at the trailhead about 50 down the trail. No passes required. Small lot can hold about 15 cars, but only 4 cars were there today.

The hike starts out on an old service road though beautiful lush forest and transitions to a standard hikers trail with excellent tread. The moss was incredible along the way and the short viewpoint side trips were excellent. The destination at the turtlehead was WINDY, but the views are SPECTACULAR! Definitely worth a trip when on Orcas Island.

Did this as a solo hike and arrived at the trailhead around 10:30 on a Thursday morning in late July. The parking lot was about half full, but I only ran into two other hikers on the trail, and no one at any of the lookouts. It was really peaceful, although I agree with some other reports that the road section of the trail is bit boring. The segment of the trail between Waldron Overlook and the summit is much more interesting to look at and was lovely with moss and foliage. 

The trail is in great condition, and I didn’t run into any issues - bring binoculars, as the views from the top are really spectacular! I spotted a couple golden eagles and Vancouver in the distance. With a 30m break at the top, the total roundtrip took me about 2.5 hours. Very nice midday hike!

Arrived at the north trailhead around 12:30pm after arriving Orcas on the Ferry. There were 5 other cars when I arrived, plastic privy clean and well-stocked. Didn't love the hike along the old logging road, but the trail was quiet and the North Valley and Walden viewpoints lovely. The trail narrows after the Walden viewpoint with a decent into the woods, then gradually climbing back to the stunning view that is Turtlehead Summit. Absolutely stunning views across the islands. I had each and every viewpoint to myself, and only saw about 7 other hikers the whole afternoon on trail. 

Made the most of a rain-free day and completed this trail, stopping at the overlooks for expansive views! Some squishy patches on the trail but very easy to follow and in great shape.