8 people found this report helpful
Deception Pass never disappoints, and these trails were ones I hadn't been on before. Well worth it - I arrived 8ish to an almost empty parking lot, and did all three pieces (Rosario Head, Lighthouse Point, & Lottie Point) in a couple of hours and only seeing a handful of other people. Not the usual Deception pass experience. When I left there was still tons of parking available.
The trail to Lighthouse and Lottie Points has a emergency closure sign on it. That is because of the rickety bridge just a few dozen yards from the trail entrance. During low tide, you can just walk the beach to the spit between the two without any trouble and do both parts from there. During high tide, which it was when I arrived, that route is blocked by water against the rocks, but if you walk the beach almost down to where it's impassible, you can cut up and do the regular trail. To be honest, that trail is fine but the best route if it's available to you is the beach - I was able to walk back that way after the tide went out a bit.
Trails are in great shape and views are gorgeous, particularly from Lighthouse Point. If you only want to do one of the three, do this one. Lots of little trails up there through the forest and out onto the cliffs, multiple stunning views. Lottie Point is nice but the views are mostly interrupted by greenery. There's a steep trail down the the bottom that I didn't take, so maybe there were more unobstructed views from that.
The walk to Rosario Head is also great - my second favorite, and saw a gorgeous eagle. Easy trail, very scenic both in the forest and looking out on the little islands and headlands and the village in the bay.
This is a terrific option if you've always wanted to go to Deception Pass but don't like how busy it is on the other side of the strait. I'm assuming it gets more crowded later in the day and later in the summer, but not near as busy as the main park area.
Oh, and one other thing, the WTA description says this is 350 elevation gain - I'm not sure how they managed that. With all the little trails up and down I ended up with about 1050 feet. I suspect I can't entirely trust my watch on that, but I do know it wasn't 350!
4 people found this report helpful
The pier is broken so inaccessible, so don’t get your hopes up there. The bridge just beyond the pier to the south is also down, making the Lottie and lighthouse only accessible by crossing the beach. Time it with the tides or you’ll be stuck.
Closer to 1000 feet of elevation gain if you take the beach and lookout side trails but they’re definitely worth it.
3 people found this report helpful
Quintessential PNW spring hiking day at Deception Pass State Park. Parked in the Bowman Bay beach lot and started the day in the direction of the Rosario Head trail. We were lucky enough to catch sight of Elsie May, the resident elephant seal, which really delighted my kids. On our way back to the parking lot, we saw a group of people on the beach who explained that they were volunteer scientists seining the water to evaluate the health of the shore after some restoration work. Apparently they were happy with their findings, and it was cute to see the baby Chum salmon. After a quick lunch and a play break on the park equipment, we headed to Lighthouse Point (which to my kids' confusion was lacking a lighthouse). Lots of beautiful coastline, and the hike back was full of banana slug sightings. We all had a good time and were happy to be back to the car before it started raining.
11 people found this report helpful
My son was curious about the abandoned mine and cabin ruins off the Tursi Trail after I told him about running past it on a trail run so we went searching for the cave. We started at the Pass Lake loop to the Tursi Trail, which was lovely and shaded, although a bit muddy once pas the lake. Skunk cabbage is blooming as are fairy slippers and giant fawn lilies. The kids played with rolly poly bugs, aka potato bugs, aka wood louses, aka pill bugs while we ate lunch near the balds at the top of the trail there were also plenty of ladybugs to play with. The kids liked playing hide and seek behind some of the larger trees on the trail but were unimpressed by the old mining tunnel. After our walk we went to Rosario head and learned about Elsie May the elephant seal from a NOAA biologist and played on the beach. Finally we soaked our feet and played on the new play structure at Bowman Bay. The kids had a great time and my 7 year old was excited to learn the elephant seal was also 7.