I made a 7.5 mile loop hiking at least of small portion of a number of trails. First are some general notes and then the loop write-up is after.
I tried starting at Arroyo Park, but the bridge crossing Chuckanut Creek has been damaged and is currently closed.
Even on a rainy January Saturday these North Chuckanut trails are busy. A number of people were trail running. I only came across one mtn. biker. Others were enjoying the trails with their dog.
Lots of mud on the trails, but nothing bad. I was impressed there really wasn’t much if any standing water on the trails either. No snow or ice. No bugs. No wildlife seen. But the mosses, ferns, and funguses are in abundance. Lots of fun varieties.
I was disappointed in the Hemlock and North Lost Lake trails. I think it was the hard gravel surface and the 6-8ft in width (or greater at times). Hard to feel like hiking on a service road. All of the other trails I really enjoyed. I also really appreciated how well marked the trails were.
My loop hike details:
I started at the North Chuckanut trailhead. From there you’ll start on the Interurban trail. About 0.3 miles in there is a beautiful waterfall running well right now. Not long after I connected to the Chuckanut Falls Trail, followed that trail down to the beautiful Chuckanut Falls. The trail stops at about the mid-section of the falls to the north side. I followed the trail back up and took a left (south) heading to Hemlock trail. Once to Hemlock I continued south until I got to the Huckleberry Trail. I really enjoyed the Huckleberry trail. The viewpoint on this trail isn’t much to view, but there is a nice bench. I continued on Huckleberry until it met back up to Hemlock. From there I jumped onto Salal Trail, and then to the Madrone Crest Trail. There are four or five blowdowns on Madrone trail. All are pretty easy to get over, the largest tree being about 12”+ in diameter at about knee height. The Madrone Viewpoint is also not much of a view. But the trail up to it is beautiful. As you gain in elevation the trees, mosses, and landscape changes. At this point I had peaked out in my elevation at about 1,428 ft gained, and now it was basically all downhill back to my truck. I returned back to the Salal Trail and took a left, heading west until I reached the Lower Salal trail (also called Hush-hush trail on Gaia GPS). I found this section of trail to be fun and entertaining. The Lower Salal trail is a fun adventure! I’d recommend only going down it versus up. I eventually connected to the North Lost Lake Trail which then terminated into the northern section of the Hemlock Trail, then back to the Interurban trail, and finishing at the North Chuckanut trail head. What a trip!
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