When we moved back to Whidbey Island in Washington State, I was happy we lived near a trail system. While not big nor overly populated with users, it is a quiet gem on the south end of Whidbey Island. The Trillium Community Forest has three trailheads, and we are fortunate to live near the Bounty Loop Trailhead, which enters you into the trail system quickly. The small parking lot offers parking for both cars and those with disabled parking passes, as the Level Loop, which is ADA accessible, is off this trailhead. It sits in a quiet, older neighborhood.
For the first two years here, we hiked all the trails when the boys were young. With summer coming, I decided it would be fun to hike all the trails again and see the changes that have occurred. Since we hiked the trails, Whidbey Camano Land Trust has done two thinnings in parts of the forest, one of which was just recently finished. These hikes are, to me, fall and spring, when the mountains are closed off, but they are also great for training for longer hikes. So I have been back on these trails, often with our youngest son, who is 12, ahead of me.
And there has been change, even beyond the thinning. Sometimes even new trails.
(This map, it seems, was last updated over 4 years ago.)
The easiest trail in the system is the Level Loop, which starts at Bounty Loop Trailhead. We walked it recently.
As one leaves the paved part of Bounty Trail, to the unpaved Level trail, to the right is a trail marked, but not on the map. That is Sword Fern Trail.
Well-marked trails are a common thing in most of the Trillium.
The entrance to Sword Fern Trail. When we first moved here, this trail was an old pathway that had been logged long ago. At some point in the last few years, it became a real trail.
It is a pleasant trail that winds through the Alder and Evergreen tree forest, which is well-lit by the sky. It has been recently trimmed back (it holds moisture here).
The trail ends back at Bounty Trail, and a right takes you back to where you started. It is a short, simple, and fun way to take two short mini-loops in a row.
It’s nothing huge. But it is so so green. It is full of birds singing. And that is enough for me.
~Sarah