Trip Report for Mt Constitution via Cold Springs and Little Summit Trail, Saturday, January 17, 2026.
Visiting Orcas Island and Moran State Park in January and lucked out with amazing weather. Parked at Cold Springs trailhead about 2:00pm up the Mt Constitution road. This is a small parking lot with room for about 6 or less vehicles. Caught the trail across the road and it’s a nice gentle climb, lots of green undergrowth and soft, mostly wide trail in the forest. Cold Springs intersects with Little Summit Trail and we continued up toward the Tower. Some roots and rocks but nothing too difficult along the way.
Once we reached the ridge, the views open up and WOW - the islands of the Salish Sea below. So lucky for a clear January day. We had views of Mountain Lake, Shaw and Lopez Islands, then continuing on, views of Mt Baker, the Cascades, Lummi Island, and into Canada. Stunning in the afternoon light.
Reached the Tower and more views - it’s a (little bit) of a climb to get there but sooo worth it. And go up into the tower - only 3 flights of stairs. Even could see the Olympic Mountains and San Juan Islands to the West.
At the summit parking lot, restrooms available, but drinking water is shut off for the winter so plan accordingly.
This trail can be done in a (long) loop by continuing down on the Mt Constitution trail, then connect with Boundary Trail to Cold Springs. We opted for the short version (out and back) due to waning winter daylight. Returned back the same way we hiked up for a short 3 mile round-trip. We agreed that the views (on a clear day) on this short hike will be hard to beat!
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