Combining the Heart Lake trail and Sugarloaf trails gives you a little of everything: lake and ocean views, flat and steep terrain, sunshine and shade.
We started at the northern gated portion of the Anacortes Community Forest Lands off of Heart Lake Road. There was enough room on the side of the road for about 3 cars. Before we passed through the gate we reviewed the map and took notes of all the numbered trail junctions we wanted to turn at: 222, 209, 224, 210, and 212. The junctions come up quicker than you think, so it was great to have our notes to keep us heading south towards the Sugarloaf TH and parking lot. We passed by Heart Lake and saw 2 Cormorants perched on logs in the water. This stretch of trail is muddy with little standing water. We crossed the road and made it to the Sugarloaf parking lot and back onto the trail. About .5 miles towards Sugarloaf we crossed into the snow line and starting hiking through a snowy slushy trail. We enjoyed a sunshine snack break at the Sugarloaf summit before making our way back down to Heart Lake. On the way back past Heart Lake a Hairy Woodpecker flew above us on the trail. It was a great, quiet day in the forest!
RT: ~5 miles
Time on Trail: 3 hours
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