Decided to finally get to Oyster Dome today and it did not disappoint. Headed out from the Samish Overlook. The road up was passable for pretty much all vehicles. A few spots with a decent amount of potholes but all can be dodged. As far as gravel roads to trail heads go, this one wasn’t terrible.

Descended down from the northwest corner of the parking lot as in the description and the trail was in great shape. A little bit of ice off the trail in spots and a couple little muddy spots. Luckily due to the freezing temps, the mud spots were not bad and easily walked through. Signage was great and never felt like I was worried where to go at any of the intersections.

At the top was some amazing views of the sound. It was absolutely breathtaking. The clouds in the distance hid all of the Olympics Except a couple snowy peaks which made them look majestical.

After a quick snack, a ton of photos, and some water, it was back down the trail. At the advice of someone I came across on the trail, I opted to walk back towards the lakes then take the Acorn trail to the service road. I walked the service road back around till I came to the last part of the Larry Reed trail which I took back to the overlook. Although it was a road walk, it was in the sun which felt great and had some pretty cool views.

Once back at the overlook there were plenty of people flying around in their little parachute contraptions. It looked quite fun, specially since there were a bunch of eagles circling around in the air with them. With this sunny weather we have been having it was a great way to spend the day!

Trails were clearly marked, good conditions especially for January, not muddy, snowy or icy. The view at the Oyster dome is beautiful and a perfect spot to sit in the sun for lunch. We arrived around 11:30 on a Saturday and parked on the road by the trailhead. The chukanut drive trail was busy with hikers but the max shortcut/larry reed route was far less busy. Keep note of mountain bikers and horses on this trail system. This was a rather easy hike, good footing, gradual incline and moderate distance, great for beginners or those taking it more easy.

Some portions of the trails seemed much muddier today than I have ever observed, but it is January and it has been raining!

Overall I thought the trail conditions were pretty good. I saw very few people on my hike and, despite the fog on my way up from Snohomish County, I enjoyed a beautiful sunny day while on the trail.

The road conditions are generally fair to good, but some of the potholes are pretty deep. Again, it's January in western Washington and the roadway is a working forest road.

Been here a few times and I'll definitely be back. It's a nice hike and a good way to get out of the house.

Trail a bit muddy in spots but not too bad. Sky was very foggy most of the day, obscuring the view

This year's version of our Chuckanut Tour was a north-to-south traverse totaling about 15-18miles one way.

We left a car at the Oyster Dome TH on Chuckanut Drive, then continued on to the North Chuckanut TH where we started hiking.  

Where it got interesting was at Lost Lake, where we took a minor mountain bike trail along the east side of the lake.  This was a cool trail that went along a short ridge that hems in Lost Lake.  It's broken only by a sandstone notch where the lake's outlet pours out.  An easy jumpover.  From there it was old logging roads and current logging roads/clearcuts as we worked our way over to the British Army trail.  Gaia was essential to get through here; as we also used various mountain bike and motocross trails as well.  The British Army trail is a grunt of a climb by this time of the day, with 10 miles on our odometers.  But finally we reached Lizard Lake and had a chilly lunch stop.  After that, there are a lot more people as we took the Lizard / Lilly Connector.  No side-trip up to North Butte....it was totally socked in.  Luckily by the time we arrived at Oyster Dome the clouds had parted for wonderful views.

The stretch from Oyster Dome down to Hwy 11 was tedious but well-kept.