It was a wonderfully quiet morning on this very popular trail. I arrived at the Samish Overlook right around 9am to only 4 other cars. Road to the overlook is in great condition with just a few bumps and potholes to avoid. Toilets are stocked and clean, and benches at the overlook afford wonderful views steps from the car. Trail itself is in great condition with noteable improvements from the last time I hiked this path, years ago. No more are the hodge-podge of social trails leading to the dome, path is wide and clear and easy to follow. Only saw a handful of people on my way, and fortunate to share the rock and views with only a couple other people for a mid-morning snack. Lots of birdsong and chimpmunks skittering around. Ripe blackberries present at the trailhead and found thimbleberries and red huckleberries along the trail. There were still a couple parking spots available at when I returned to my car around 12:15. Happy Hiking! #hikeathon

We did the route as outlined here and the total distance according to Strava was 7.91 miles. Samish overlook to Oyster Dome to Lily Lake campground to Max’s Shortcut to Samish Overlook.

We started from Chuckanut Drive around 9am. There were at least two pairs of men’s underwear scattered on the side of the trail—seemed weird. Passed just a handful of groups on the way up, and had the top to ourselves briefly. The views were completely masked by the fog.

A group of about 10 adults arrived at the top. They were yelling back and forth as the rest of their group arrived, and once they did, they started playing music on their phone speaker and singing loudly. Honestly quite disruptive, and I’ll never understand why people feel the need to play music out loud on trails. On our way down, the same group of people were running down and cutting all of the switchbacks as they screamed at each other, which I hated even more than the music. I thought about confronting them but didn’t. There were even signs to stay on trail, but clearly they didn’t care. Please be better than these people.

We also saw two people riding mountain bikes near the last stream crossing (of very little water) before the top. Garmin clocked the distance at 7.1 miles rt and  2,100 ft elevation gain. 

Two of us hiked oyster dome today, starting at chuckanut drive, highway 11. Excellent parking on highway 11, plenty of space. The hike up Oyster Dome was perfect, with beautiful views of the San Juans

This hike has been on my list for a long time and we decided to head to Bellingham and get it done. We arrived about 10:00 AM and got the last parking spot but people were already parked on the road. We headed up to Oyster dome as suggested via Samish Bay trail. What a lovely view! Trail was in reasonable condition. There were a fair number of hikers: folks with kids and dogs along with a few of us more senior folks. We can back via the Lily Lake, Max's Shortcut to Larry Reed Trail -- one mile longer but easier of my creaky knees.