Ebey's Landing — Thursday, May. 22, 2014

Puget Sound and Islands > Whidbey Island

We began our hike from the Prairie Overlook parking lot across from the cemetery. You have a great view from the start with Mt. Baker all the way down south to Mt. Rainier. The first part of the trail is on a dirt road out to the old blockhouse and farm house from the 1850's. Then we followed along on a dirt trail by a fence line out to the junction with the "Bluff Trail". We could see the skyscrapers in Seattle. The trail gains elevation as it goes north with nice views high above the beach of Admiralty Inlet and over to the Olympic Mountains. The trail then switchbacks down to the beach just north of Perago's Lake. Once at the beach, we pulled up a log for lunch with no one else around. After eating, we headed south on the beach back to the lower parking lot by the restroom. From there we hiked north on the lower "Bluff Trail" back to the junction and went east to the Prairie View parking lot. This loop is 5.6 miles. We saw several eagles flying around, some sandpipers walking the beach and various meadow birds sitting on fence posts. Lots of purple Broadleaf Lupine and wild roses blooming along the trail. We met other hikers, one was just in his bare feet. Check this hike out on a sunny day for the wonderful scenic views. It is great that this area was kept in the Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve back in 1978.