I visited this for a trail run, it was a lovely place that wasn't really on my radar. 

I was on Whidbey specifically to visit the fiber lab at Abundant Earth Fiber, a really cool place if you enjoy any sort of fiber arts. I stopped by their space first and while talking to one of the owners, she recommended this area when I told her I was planning to take a trail run next. She specifically told me to check out the labyrinth, which was really lovely. I realized that I had never actually walked a labyrinth before, and I found it a lovely chance for reflection. 

The Whidbey Institute has maps online and at a few spots around the trail. Most (but not all) trail junctions are marked. I quickly learned that any trail that didn't look well traveled was not a true trail. I took a few short mistaken detours. 

It was a lovely spot for some trail running training. I'm sure I'll be back next time I'm on the island. 

 I went hiking on trails today that I was not aware of at The Whidbey Institute which is a 501(c)(3) education non-profit. It has about 106 acres of forest land with about 4.5 miles of trails located on the southend of Whidbey Island off Old Pietila Road. You will find two parking areas here with one upper at the entrance near the sign and one lower along the road. I chose the lower one as my plans were to hike the Upper Loop Trail which is the longest and gives you the best workout. The trail begins on the left side of the road near the parking lot. All the trails are deep in the woods but I could hear an occasional Cessna Airplane Landing at small town of Langley but they were very quiet. Only saw and meet one person on the trail. A nice lady helped point me in the right direction as the maps are adequate to help you from getting lost but not perfect. They do have trail maps at the trailheads along Old Pietila Road or you can down load one from their website https://whidbeyinstitute.org/about-us/ . It only took me about and hour as I stop to eat and explored the different trees in the area as I am trying to improve my knowledge of all trees in the Northwest. Check out my videos of trails I have hiked in Washington State and others on my Vimeo Channel  https://vimeo/mikemorrison or click on the link below for this hike.  As always get out see this beautiful state and enjoy you hiking!

Take Care,

Mike