Miles: 5.8+ miles
Elevation Gain/Highest: 1390ft/2247ft
Map: Chuckanut Recreation Area Square One, my GAIA
Favorite Eats After Hike: Boundary Bay, Fiamma Burger, La Fiamma Wood Fire Pizza, Skagit Valley Co-op, Shambala Bistro and Bakery, or just Pack A Cooler. You can learn more about these places in my Must Hike Must Eat Eating Out Guide.
Find out current conditions and as always, practice Leave No Trace. Pretty please.
Hike Details:
The Alternate Incline to Lily and Lizard Lake with a side stop at North Butte makes for a low level solitary walk on Blanchard Mountain when Oyster Dome is seeing all the traffic. A quick but steep climb to the junction with Lizard Lake opens up exploration on Blanchard Mountain. You can spend time on the Pacific Northwest Trail, a summit of North Butte and views of the Samish Sea and Olympic Mountains or a loop down to Lily Lake and the Samish Overlook. The possibilities are endless! You can also read a more detailed guide description for the Alternate Incline I wrote on WTA.
My trip reports:
4/5/2021, my GAIA, 7 miles
We had a wonderful forest stroll on Blanchard Mountain, views of Mount Baker and Samish Bay along with some lowland lake solitude.
We started from the Upper Blanchard lot, taking the closed forest road to the Alternate Incline, up to Lizard Lake, across the connector to North Butte, back down and on to Lily Lake and then the long Lily Lizard Trail back to the car for a total of 7 miles. For some reason it felt so much longer than my previous trip that returned on the Alternate Incline so I was surprised when it turned out to be the same distance!
It was interesting to observe at Lizard Lake how busy the beavers have been since my last visit. That precariously leaning tree has now been felled and there were chewing spots on other trees along the lakeshore. Mud patches were few, thankfully, and we had the North Butte to ourselves for some sunbathing. We explored the butte itself and found another viewpoint for Mount Baker off in the distance.
It was my first time to return all the way back down on the Lily Lizard Trail (you can read below how I cut down the forest to skip the long switchback the first time). It did seem to stretch on and on but did have a scenic bridge over the gently cascades of Whitehall Creek and the grade was easy where it followed the old railroad bed.
12/24/2019 my GAIA, 7 miles
This is becoming one of my go-to hike when I don’t have a whole day and avalanche danger is high. We managed to get a 7 mile lollipop hike in with time for shopping before Christmas Eve festivities!
We parked in the upper parking lot on the east side of Blanchard and took the gated road up to the Alternate Incline. Not an exciting walk but Baker was out and looking mighty frosted.
We didn’t see anyone until we made the junction to Lizard Lake when we passed someone who said they hadn’t seen anyone on their hike. We visited Lizard briefly, then took the connector towards Lily and North Butte, passing by the two-three story erratics left behind from glacial movement in the area a long time ago.
Don’t forget to look out for the Pacific Northwest Trail markers as you saunter down the trail! For the most part the trail was in good shape but there was definitely mud. Nothing that a sturdy shoe couldn’t handle, though (no sinking in). North Butte had open views despite the grey skies and for my second time we had it to ourselves. Tiny bits of snow clung to moss in the cracks of the viewpoint slab and I imagine a bit earlier the rock surface was slick.
After taking in the island panorama, we headed back down and on to Lily Lake. Neither Lily nor Lizard are exciting lakes but since you can usually find them without crowds, they make for a great spot to sit in solitude and watch wildlife. We didn’t see any in action but the evidence of beaver activity is prolific.
To head back, we took the Lizard Lake Trail and connected again with the Alternate Incline back down to the car. We stopped to admire the railroad remnants, my hubby says they are similar to those you could once find on Tiger Mountain. All told, we saw about 6 people total and a few folks on mountain bikes. I love hiking on this side of Blanchard, a lot less people than the Oyster Dome side but you can still get a nice view of the water!
10/18/2019
I took advantage of a break in the rain to head up to Blanchard Mountain for a quick jaunt up the Alternate Incline to Lizard Lake and back.
The trail was in great condition with only a few muddy patches. Plenty of pink flagging every 50 feet and yellow signs for the GBRC race tomorrow, good to know if you plan to be on this side of the mountain at all tomorrow.
I had Lizard Lake to myself and it made for a lovely moment of solitude watching raindrops echo on the water’s surface. Caught a new PNT sign marking a tree on the British Army Trail and noticed quite a bit of old foresting machinery remnants I hadn’t seen the last time I was on the Alternate.
Took a little over 2 hours to do the in/out and I saw 3 other hikers and 2 bikers. Not bad and definitely less than the other side of the hill. Didn’t bother with North Butte as the lake already had low level clouds moving in.
My favorite part was a few ripe-enough blackberries on the way in and out along the road! Mileage came to about 5 miles.
3/17/2018 my GAIA, 5.8 miles
I only had a few hours to get out on the trail and didn’t want to spend much of it driving. So I shot up I-5 to just above Burlington to walkabout on Blanchard Mountain starting on the east side instead of off the normally crowded Chuckanut Drive like I normally do.
I had a late start and I didn’t arrive at the upper parking lot until just before noon so most spots were occupied but I parked near the gate where I wanted to walk up the road to the trailhead anyway. My goal was to head up towards Oyster Dome, visit Lily and Lizard Lakes traveling on the Pacific Northwest Trail, then cut back down to my car making a loop.
Walking along the gated gravel road was relatively level and I only saw one other person. I was looking for the start to the Alternate Incline trail, hoping it would live up to its name. About half mile in there was a break in the trees and I could see Mount Baker across the valley resting amongst the cloud cover. A mile and 17 minutes from the car I arrived at the trailhead and spotted a WTA volunteer work sign. Yay for trail crews!
The Alternate Incline Trail here heads up following along the creek that flows down from Lizard Lake, mostly on a forested ridge between two gullies in the slope. I encountered the work party about 3/4 of the way up, diligently building turnpikes and drains to control water on the trail to keep things in good shape.
There were a few patches of snow along the sides of the path before I arrived at the junction with Lizard Lake and the British Army Trail, which is part of the Pacific Northwest Trail, about 50 minutes from the car and 1866ft. Touches of snow on the trail remained here but nothing to worry about as the trail was flat and wide.
It was just a couple more minutes and 2.5 miles into my trip before I was lakeside and opted to visit the horse camp first for a view of Lizard Lake which has begun to thaw out from winter. I will say here that at both lakes, the view from the horse camp was better and offered a more uninterrupted panorama. Good to know if you plan to stay overnight on Blanchard Mountain!
From here, I took the Lily Lizard Connector Trail to wander towards Lily Lake but I had the North Butte to summit first. The right hand turn was about .5 miles from the junction with Lizard Lake and I made my way up to the top in less than 1/4 mile. The trail was fairly easy to follow but fizzles out near the top to several social trails, they all appeared to end at the same rock outcropping with cloud interrupted views of the Puget Sound and the distant peaks of Mount Deception, Erie, Storm King, Muller, San Juan, and Constitution, to name a few. Considering I had it all to myself means I will probably ascend here instead of the more populated Oyster Dome on my next visits.
I descended back down to the connector trail and made my way over to Lily Lake, also, less than 1/4 mile from the junction with North Butte. It was further into spring than Lizard, the sun seemed to be melting away at the lakeshore more rapidly. Still, it was hard to believe this much snow is left in March at only 2,000ft elevation.
After enjoying some lakefront scenery, I turned and continued around the lake keeping left at junctions along the Lily Lake Trail. This trail continued all the way back down to the parking lot on long easy switchbacks. It is a good reminder that this trail and loop are bike and horse friendly, expect to be sharing with other non-motorized traffic!
Directions: Drive north on I-5 to exit 240 (Alger) and head west on Lake Samish Road. Take the first left onto Barrel Springs Road and travel 0.6 mile, to where there is a sign for Blanchard Forest Block (1822/1866). The parking lot for the upper trailhead is 1.8 miles up, passing signs for the lower and Samish Overlook. There are no facilities here but there are at the two other trailheads off the same road. Discover Pass needed.
For more hikes near here, visit my On The Puget Sound page.
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