With the first of 3 deer seasons over, the Trillium Community Forest trails, on the south end of Whidbey Island, are open till till November 18th (closed November 19th to 22nd, and then for the long season of November 25th to December 25th). The boys and I did a loop I hadn’t finished before, doing about 3.25 miles of trail plus a 1 mile of walking to and from the trailhead from our farm.
We live where we can see the Trillium Ridge from our home, with the Olympic Mountains above them.
Sunsets are for now pretty amazing. In coming years the Trillium’s trees will grow taller however, so I enjoy it every night if I can.
We started at the Bounty Head Trailhead. See here for the latest map in PDF.
We headed up Bounty, passing Level Loop. At the Crossroads junction we turned left onto it. Not far up we took a right onto Peaceful Firs. The short trail brings you up to Patrick’s Way, which we turned right onto. Patrick’s Way was a main logging road, so is an easy hike and wide.
At the park bench on Patrick’s Way, near where Dragonfly Glade comes up to. We took a break here and had a snack/rest.
Red Huckleberries growing out of an old stump. The Trillium is home to many Red Huckleberry plants.
The Giant Leaf Maple Tree in this opening is one of the prettier ones around, though the wind the other day really cleared it out.
We stayed on Patrick’s Way and headed up.
And then downhill for the long haul.
Patrick’s Way ends at the “red gate” (see the map) and road walking starts. This private enclave is an easement, so enjoy the quiet walk that was mostly downhill. We saw deer, and that was about it.
We hooked onto Dragonfly Glade just before the Pacific Dogwood Trailhead, and headed into the forest again. We took the left at the junction for Crossroads (nice to see a better trail sign here, it wasn’t there last time we were all the way back here). This section of Crossroads crosses private property under easement.
It passes a considerable wetland area that is neat to look for funky fungi in. The trail touches close to Hwy 525, and near where it is across the highway from Chase Lake, you can see the road. Still, it is likely no one driving by has a clue there is a trail just off the highway. There are a few more wetland areas along the way.
The last bit goes into an open Alder forest that lets the light in when the leaves are gone.
The trail hurries along, and you come to the junction of Bounty Trail again, with Crossroads going right, and Bounty heading straight. A quick haul down Bounty and the trailhead awaits.
Trillium is free to use, no parking permits or cost to use.
~Sarah