Clear Lake Hill — Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026

First hike of the year! Amazing views of the Skagit Valley is what you will find here. Take Hwy 9 north out of Mount Vernon and at the roundabout in Clear Lake take the right onto Old Day Creek Dr. Drive a few miles and turn left onto Morford Road. Less than half a mile you’ll find a yellow gate and enough parking for a few cars. This is a logging road hike but makes it great for when you are hiking with kids or people you’d like to chat with. You’ll start in the forest before you get to the clear cuts. We haven’t figured out if any of the roads make a loop yet. At the first junction by the power lines, we went straight uphill until the next junction. We went to the left and followed the road down to another junction with views towards Alger and the Chuckanut Mountains. We could see the Skagit River below and the hwy 9 bridge that goes into Sedro Woolley. We went back to the first junction because there is a fun rock pit that the kids like to look at. This clear cut has views south towards Big Lake, Mount Vernon and east up the Skagit River Valley with Baker peaking out. Overall 5.15 miles and 900 ft of elevation gain. I recommend coming on a clear day to take in the views.