Little Mountain is my go-to for hiking in my area. I live in Mount Vernon and can visit Little Mountain any time I get a hike-itch abruptly. The trail system is well maintained by the Trail Builders group and they continue to add more trails and features to the great trails that already exist. I hike Little Mountain at least once a week and fall in love with it again every time. There are no amazing feats of endurance, no extreme climbs, no scrambles, no majestic summits. It is just a small hill located in the town of Mount Vernon that allows access to everyone. On a typical day on the trails you will see seniors, kids, dogs, trail runners, and mountain bikers. This place has it all. From super easy nature walks, to a bit more strenuous ascents up to the top. There are many many trails; all of them weaving into each other. Start at one of the many trailheads and make your way along the beautiful forested paths. At the top you will find a family park. Complete with picnic areas and a couple nice overlook spots that allow you to see the San Juans, Mount Baker, and on a clear day you can even see Rainier. You can drive up to the top and leave your car at the large parking lot and then set out on the trails from the summit if you wanted. Rain, shine or even snow, Little Mountain is a great place to get out into nature without having to drive very far. You wont be disappointed while exploring this great little hill.

Bonnie & Clyde Trail (map said it was 0.99 miles one way) on Little Mountain is fairly flat with some moderate incline. 146’ elevation gain if starting the trail on the Little Mountain Park Road, about halfway up the mountain. All the trails we have walked on Little Mountain are well marked at intersections with wooden signs about 12' up on a tree near the trail. We got there shortly after 10 AM, when the park opens the gate for the road. It was sunny, but cool under the trees. We passed a few people descending on the trail soon after we started it. They had walked up the mountain from a few different trails at the bottom of the Little Mountain. We let one person pass us with a dog who was also ascending. The trail is mainly compacted dirt with some loose rocks in places. There were some switchbacks and narrow spots, but nothing too extreme. I am assuming the name of the trail is the reason there is a rusted vehicle towards the top end of the trail, or possibly the vehicle was there first. I was not expecting to see it there. There are many places along the trail that one can venture off to a connecting trail, which are a little more challenging. One trail that parallels, at a lower elevation, Bonny & Clyde is Julieann, which we heard and eventually were able to see the people on it. Towards the end of the trail we could hear the traffic, I am sure was from I-5 with as much as we heard. Heading back down the trail we passed one person heading up, so the trail was not very busy. No matter if you start at the bottom of the trail or at the top, one will be going up and down throughout the trail. Bonnie & Clyde ends about halfway through the Sidewinder Trail (map said it was 0.53 miles one way). We did not see anyone on this trail, but did see a snake. We headed left first onto Sidewinder from Bonnie & Clyde and looped back. Sidewinder on this part of the trail is fairly flat and turns into the Service Road Trail, which is wide and also fairly flat. There is also a little more sun breaking through the trees on this part of the trail. The section to the right is why it is called sidewinder. There are many switchbacks and a moderate incline, 95’, to the top and end of the trail and into the North Viewpoint Trail. There is an extended walkway to view the northwest section of Skagit Valley from this trail. The North Viewpoint Trail leads to the upper parking lot where there are picnic tables and a bathroom. We headed back the way we came, but there is a trail, Ridge Trail, that will lead you back if you parked halfway up the road.

Wrote 4 paragraphs before internet died and wiped it out. Oh well. Shorter is probably better. Approached park from south side via Darvil TH. Had a heck of a time finding it (you have to pull into a private driveway to access the 2-3 small spaces). Darvil was wet but passable. You will come to a post with no signs, left will take you to West Loop trail (which I missed) traipsed around on hiker only trails before deciding they were too rough and jumped onto Bonnie And Clyde, very nice. Fred's Trail is a doozy of a leg burner but short and brings you right out onto the beautiful Viewpoint Loop trail. The parachute sculpture over the overlook is lovely (see photo) and dragonflies were zig-zagging everywhere. Headed down via Huff N Puff, very nice trail, and saw a fox/coyote? Continued around via Lazy Boy, Lower Surfer and Down South, all very nice, winding trails before taking a gamble (no signage again) at Taylors Trail. It is very overgrown, more like a game trail but had some very ripe blackberries for the picking. If I were to do this again I would enter from the north side of the park and stick to the multi user trails. Be sure to bring a map or snap a picture of one at the trailhead as not all trails are marked! Not a lot of views along the way but the top is worth it.

This is an excellent hike! There is a map online that shows all the trails. Not much parking at the bottom so we started at the top. We did Fred's Trail to West Loop to Darvil Trail and back up and I will say it was CHALLENGING!!! Fred's trail being the hardest part because it was very very steep almost like climbing the side of a mountain. Did this with my dog and we were able to do it but was a little bit of a struggle because he wanted to run and go while I was trying to hold on to him. Took about 1hr 15 mins to get down to the bottom of mountain and then about 45 minutes to get back to the top with frequent stops. I tell you though this was really rewarding in terms of a great work out! I would advise some kind of hiking sticks if you take this combination of trails.