Heart Lake and Whistle Lake Trail Review

May 13, 2012

Location: Hearts Lake and Whistle Lake areas. We mountain biked through the Heart Lake area to the road climb up Mt. Erie. After descending the road on Mt. Erie we rode a handful of trails in and around Whistle Lake and then north up near Heart Lake Road. The best trails are aroud Little Round Top in my opinion.

To the best of my knowledge here is a list of the trails we rode: 208, 224, 250, 212, 25, road up Mt. Erie, 26, 21, 204, 234, 205, 206, 22, 21, 27, 202, 231, 300, 302, 311, 313, 226, 230, 21, 320, crossed back across Heart Lake Road, 212, 250, 224, and 208. (Ones in BOLD I liked the best.)

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Getting there:

Take I-5 to Exit 230 and head West on Hwy 20 (14.7 mi). Next take a left on Commercial St., then a right on Fidalgo St, left on O ave, then a right 41st St and finally a left on Orchard Ave. There are two trails at the end of the road in the grass field. (Note this is a housing development and has no real trail head parking lot. Respect the neighborhood and use one of the other entrances if you have a large group.

Other trail heads:

Heart Lake – Heart Lake Road
South Little Cranberry – 37th and A ave
Whistle Lake – at the end of Whistle Lake Road

Guide books and Maps:

Fees or Passes:

None

Facts:

Singletrack	95%
Fire road	5%
Paved	0%
Total trail	50 mi.
Alt. change	999
Latitude:	48.5042583108565
Longitude:	-122.645144462585

Current Conditions:

Dry and fast! I managed to find maybe six feet of mud all day. The trails are in great condition and I don’t recall even one blow down.

What to expect:

The trails here are great. They offer a great mix of double and single track as well as moderately technical to easy riding. Be ready to climb as some trails are steep. I’m talking taint bustin’ tough. You can ride one or all three areas (Cranberry, Heart or Whistle Lake). The view from the top of Mt. Erie is pretty sweet but the climb is an ass kicker and the only way off the top is back down the road.

Most trails are open to all users, hikers, horses, bikes, and motorcycles. We only saw hikers but signs of the others as well. Bring a map, even though every trail has signage there are some many it’s easy to lose your bearings. Check out my ride report.

Local Groups/Clubs/Bike Shop:

Skagit Cycle Center – Anacortes Store Trail Maps

City Parks website

Friends of the ACFL

Evergreen MTB

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