Walked a loop from Samish Overlook along Larry Reed Trail to Acorn Trail up the FS road then past Lily Lake to North Butte before going to Oyster Dome via the connector and back to Samish Overlook. Seven miles, 1,400 feet, 2 1/2 hours.

Trail is in good shape with some muddy spots from a light overnight rain which gave everything a nice green look and forest-y smell. Great views from both viewpoints once the sun peeked out around 11 AM. Saw a lot of Trilliums along the trail and plenty of skunk cabbage in the marshes near Lily Lake. 

This was the busiest day I’ve experienced in the area with a lot of smiling folks out in groups or solos and pairs. Plenty of fun dogs as well! Parking was tight when I arrived at 930 and jammed at noon with cars along both sides of the road near the parking lot entrance. There was also a work group doing trail maintenance and a parasailing group setting up when I left. 

The view from the overlook was amazing as always, but enhanced by all of the agricultural work that’s been done recently such as plowing and planting. This has given the valley a well ordered appearance. It was a cool change from the winter views and a hint at the coming berry and produce bonanza only a few weeks away! 

Start : 3:30pm
End : 6:45pm

A perfect description of a moderate hike, starts off with a descent and then gradually climbs up. It starts getting a little windy and cold near the top, you can carry a jacket, which will be helpful if there's no sun.

Spent 45mins at the top because the views are just gorgeous.Came back down and saw a bunch of people just paragliding!

Decided to explore Blanchard State Forest with the goal of checking out Lizard Lake, North Butte, Lily Lake, and Oyster Dome. I ended up doing about 10 miles and 1800 ft of total elevation gain, but I wasn’t being efficient and there would be shorter/faster options. All the trails I used were in great condition and very well signed. There were still some sections of trail with small streams and creeks flowing, but gave me the impression they were drying up.

Starting point was the Samish Overlook. The four mile gravel road there was pretty ok. On my way out I thought some of the potholes I drove around coming in got filled today, or my mind was playing tricks. Pit toilet was stocked, but no trash receptacles. There are signs about packing everything out, so be prepared fellow dog people.

From the overlook I took the Larry Reed Trail to Max’s Shortcut which goes up to Lily Lake. I saw no one else going this way. Most people went towards the Samish Bay Connector off the Chuckanut Trail. Maybe I’ll check that way next time. Only as I approached Lily Lake did I encounter other hikers and a group of bikers heading the opposite direction. Just before reaching the lake, I turned left to head towards Oyster Dome. This was the only stop on the list that the dog and I shared with other hikers. We had our stops at North Butte and the two lakes to ourselves, although we were never really alone as occasionally we would encounter others. From Oyster Dome we went back to Lily Lake, took the campground trail up to North Butte, then on to Lizard Lake, took the British Army Trail to the lake’s outlet, then backtracked to the Lily Lizard Trail which we took all the way back down to Larry Reed and creating a large loop at this point.

This hike had a lot going on with views, water features, flowers blooming, and critters. My favorite view spot was up at North Butte. Due to trees, it doesn’t have the panoramic view that Oyster Dome has, but in the slightly higher elevation view it provides you can see further out and some more islands north. There’s also peekaboo views of Mt Baker through tree limbs on the other side. There were lots of pollinators, a banana slug munching on leaves, fish splashing in the lakes, raptors soaring, and a Douglas squirrel barking at us. Zero horses, lots of manure. And yes, a few bugs were biting near the marshy area before Lily Lake, but otherwise not too bad yet. One last thing, if you’re camping, there’s apparently firewood stacked and ready to go. Was not expecting to see that.

Four of us started from the Blanchard Upper Parking Lot to hike to Lily Lake and Oyster Dome. The plan had been to hike from Chuckanut but recent rock falls onto Chuckanut Road made us scramble to change plans.

The portapotty at the trailhead is well stocked but reeked of ammonia. I spent as little time in there as possible. It was much better when we returned to the cars around noon.

We headed out under gorgeous sunny skies at 7:55 with a high speed (on the flatter portions) of 3 mph and average for the trip 2.5 mph. This was a Mountaineers CHS-2 April hike and everyone did great with the pace, covering 8.9 miles with 1747' gain and three very short breaks to sip, change out of layers, and grab a bio break at Lily Lake, with 25 minutes to snack at Oyster Dome and absorb the great view of the Sound, Anacortes, and some soaring birds. On the morning we had 18 bird species including a pileated woodpecker, some swallows, lots of singing Pacific wrens, a raptor, a raven, Townsend's warblers, and my first evening grosbeaks of the season.

We did the Lily Loop clockwise and were not disappointed; more people were coming up as we headed down from the Dome, but other than one couple and two mountain bikers (plus evidence of horses based on fresh manure on the trails) once we got on the east part of the loop we had it mostly to ourselves. Along with plenty of red-breasted nuthatches and Pacific wrens.

Afterward we enjoyed salad and pizza at Edison's Terramar Brewstillery and heard another 8 bird species. All in all a fabulous day made even better by fewer-than-usual people on the mountain. Definitely a wonderful area to visit.

We parked on Chuckanut by about 9:45am and got up to the top by noon. Perfect day of sunshine & not too warm. No snow. Perfect viewing spot to eat your PB&J!