Chose the perfect day to go to Lime Kiln State Park - the weather was great and the Killer whales were out in full force. The hike itself is extremely easy, it's very short and there is next to no elevation gain. The real draw is the wildlife. If you want to see Killer whales while staying on shore, this is your best bet. My family and I got to the lookout right as a large pod was making their way past - and wow did some of them get close to the shore. We also went on a whale watching tour and I can honestly say the views of the whales were much better from Lime Kiln. The ranger at the station near the parking lot had up to date information on where the whales had been spotted last and was kind enough to tell us that they were only a mile or so away and heading towards the park when we arrived. So be sure to ask! Also, parking was a bit of a problem - we originally wanted to go on Friday in the afternoon but there were no parking spots available.

This was a very scenic and easy hike to the lighthouse and the lime kiln.

I actually went looking for some single track trail running. I found Lime Kiln on a site I found by googling "Single track trails". As far as single track, there are some single tracks that are pretty cool, but they are offshoots of an old forest service/fire trail. If grass growing on a gravel road is your thing, go for it! It would be great for a group run! I was disappointed that there were slides that closed the trails. I could have climbed over them...my dog was halfway there...but I only had limited time. I accessed the trail through Granite Falls, WA, which I think is the southernmost part. I wouldn't recommend driving 70 miles one way to go trail running, if single track is your thing, but if you happen to be in Snohomish or Lake Stevens for the day, why not take a short jog to Granite Falls, and try it out?

We had Lime Kiln State Park to ourselves on this mid-week visit in April. In summer there would be hordes of tourists with binoculars pressed to their faces, scanning the water for whales. No whales today, so we headed north to the lighthouse and past to the old lime kiln. The lime kiln is an impressive structure, and it's easy to envision the workers stoking the fire to 2000 degrees and tossing in football sized chunks of limestone. The boat backed up to a long-gone dock and hauled away the finished product. The kids most enjoyed a small beach below the lime kiln, where a cliff-face, now weirdly white with limestone run-off, extends down to the water. There's an unusual bright green algae that has formed on the beach, which must be caused in part by the lime. We made the trail a loop and headed back on a different trail to the upper parking lot and then down to where we parked by the restrooms. And incidentally, these have to be the sweetest smelling outhouses that I've ever encountered. They are composting toilets, and all I could smell was cedar. Now only if State Parks was funded well enough to turn the water on and/or provide hand sanitizer.