Pets allowed
Allowed
Elevation Gain
125.00 ft (38.10 m)
Trail type
There-and-back
Distance
1.40 mi (2.25 km)
Please respect the outdoors by practicing Leave No Trace. Learn more about how to apply the principles of Leave No Trace on your next outdoor adventure here.

Cranberry Lake makes a fun little day hike if you happen to be staying at Cama Beach State Park, or just down the road at Camano Island State Park. It can also put the finishing touches on a more dedicated trek throughout the area’s sizeable network of trails. At any rate, this easy trail meanders through pretty groves of red alder to a shallow wetland covered in colorful skunk cabbage.

The trailhead is accessed 0.1 mile up a gated service road (which is also a brief portion of the Cross Island Trail) along West Camano Drive. Make your way into the forest on a maintained path that becomes lined with an assortment of tiny wildflowers during the spring and summer. Gently climb a mild ridge to reach the first of two trailside benches. A short boardwalk comes along shortly to give you a preview of the peaty soil and stale waters to come. At 0.7 miles, walk between two enormous Douglas firs that stand guard before the marshy expanses of Cranberry Lake.

Logistics + Planning

Preferable season(s)

Winter
Spring
Summer
Fall

Congestion

Moderate

Parking Pass

Washington Discovery Pass

Pros

Old-growth forest. Wildflowers. Lake.

Cons

Can be muddy near the lake.

Trailhead Elevation

200.00 ft (60.96 m)

Features

Bird watching
Wildlife
Old-growth forest
Wildflowers

Location

Nearby Adventures

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