Trip Report for Mountain Lake Trail, Moran State Park, Orcas Island. Saturday, January 17, 2026.
This is a lovely 4-mile roundtrip lake trail! Started at the boat launch near the campground at Moran and did the loop clockwise on a Saturday (sunny January!) morning. The trail is mostly covered by trees and meanders along the lake with views most of the way. Don’t forget your Discover Pass! There is also parking kiosk available as an alternative.
The trail is in good shape for winter (especially after all the December heavy rain). No standing water and not too wet, only a few spots of mud but minimal. The trail is mostly flat and gentle rolling, with a few exceptions, providing a little elevation gain of about 450 feet or so (according to my iWatch).
At about a mile or 1.5 miles, the trail intersects with Little Summit if you want to ascend to the summit of Mt Constitution (see my other trip report - we opted to drive up to Cold Springs to hike the summit, cutting off a few miles of elevation gain). Otherwise, just continue on the Mountain Lake trail for a full 4 mile loop.
I suspect the Mountain Lake trail is busy in the summer with kayakers and canoes, maybe even folks fishing. The trail is peaceful this time of year.
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