Fragrance Lake

We arrived at around 11:45 AM to a parking area that is pretty much full. There were, as expected, many groups of hikers on the trail. Despite this, the trail did not feel crowded, as it was well maintained and fairly wide. The switchbacks on the trail are gentle, with many trail-runners of all ages going past our group. There are also benches at many of the switchback turns.

A 0.2 mi side trail to a small lookout point splits off to the left about halfway to the Lake. The lookout opens to a clear, westward view of the Islands and the Sound, with the larger Lummi Island and the tiny Eliza Island being the closest and easiest ones to spot.

Backtracking and rejoining the main trail, the Lake is only another mile up. After joining with the trail from the right (this other trail is our return route via the old Fragrance Lake Road), there is a choice of the direction of the loop around the Lake. We chose the right trail, which takes us in a counter-clockwise direction.

There are benches all along the lakeshore, but finding an empty picnic spot proved difficult. As we were about to give up and settle to share a spot on the north shore, we stumbled upon a small, ongoing wedding ceremony (and I was just about to walk right past them)! With the groom donning a shirtless blazer and the bride a veilless, egg-shell-white dress, they committed to each other to the backdrop of this tranquil lake, in front of 2 witnesses, the minister, and... us.

We finished our lunch while watching a handful of people frolicking on inflatables in the cold waters of the lake. Continuing around the lake, past the old Hiline Road junction, we rejoined the trail and began our return trip. There were some berries that were ripe enough for us to pick off and eat around this junction. Juicy as they were, most of the good stuff were out of our and other hikers' reach.

We took the longer way down, via the old Fragrance Lake Road. The road was a little monotonous, punctuated only by a beautiful cascading waterfall about halfway down, for which we were pleasantly surprised.

The road ends up at the Clayton Beach parking lot, which is about a half-mile south of our cars on the highway. For a more scenic, quieter route back to the cars, hike up north on the highway for about 200 ft and rejoin the Interurban Trail on the east side of the highway (the gated gravel road). The access trails back down to the parking areas are on the left.

Side: There are 2 parking areas that are very close to each other on the east side of the highway, almost directly across from the campgrounds entrance. Both have access trails up to the Interurban Trail. The continuation of the Fragrance Lake Trail is across the Interurban, to the north of the chain-linked fenced area.