Fragrance Lake

4.7 (3) North Cascades, WA Easy 1 trip report · 5 photos

Hikes near here

All 5 photos ↓

Round trip: 4 mi
Elevation gain: 920 ft
High point: 1,040 ft
Difficulty: Easy
Pass: None
Dogs: Allowed usually

Trip report

April 15, 2007

by dragoness86

Easy 4 hours Verdict: Good

Muddy
Views

★★★★★ 4.7 out of 5 from 3 votes · log in to vote

Directions: From I-5 take exit 250, left onto Fairhaven Parkway Drive. Left at light, follow the road and it'll turn to Highway 11 / Chuckanut drive. At the entrance to Larabee St. Park there is a small parking area on the other side of the road, park here and that is where the trail starts. Trail Notes:The trail itself is pretty easy, its nice for a season starter or a walk with the family. I personally took a gaggle of my college friends and we spent the day goofing around and taking pictures. You go up for about 10-15 minutes and you'll get to a road, just cross to the next part of the trail. At .9 miles up you will get to the spur, which is well worth it. Its also pretty flat so its a nice early break for .2 mile, you get to see some of the San Juan Islands. After that the hike gets a little more intense, with some increased switchbacks and you eventually get to the lake. Theres tons of places to sit and fish or have lunch, and the trail goes around the entire lake.

Photos 5

Highest rated first

Reviews 2

Fabulous Fall Hike

★★★★★

LMC · Nov 8, 2009 · Easy +

Great foliage and weather for this early November hike. We set out at 9 am and had the place to ourselves. The start is a pretty steady incline out of the parking lot until you get to the lake. A great way to warm up before you get to the lake and cruise around. The rocks around the lake are amazing. One the way down we took in the Look Out - it is worth it.

Challenging for a newbie but so worth it.

★★★★★

Holly · Jul 3, 2009 · Easy +

The first time my kids and I made the hike to Fragrance Lake, I wasn't sure if I'd ever make it. I'm fairly out of shape and it was almost 80F. Thankfully there are lots of benches to sit down on along the trail. It seemed like everyone was passing us. It was getting frustrating. Finally we were told "only another 10 minutes" by someone who had passed us and was on the way back down. Still took us another 30 minutes. When we finally reached the lake it was well worth the hike. It's quite warm and worth jumping into for a few minutes. You could swim across it in 5-6 minutes if you wanted. We took the road down and found a waterfall and some wild strawberries and salmon berries along the way.

The trail was fun though challenging. One point it's so steep that it's easier to run up it for 30 seconds than to walk it. Taking the little spur over to look out over the Islands is fun and the view is breathtaking. Be careful if you have little ones though, the other side of the fence it drops off quickly.

I think everyone should try and make this trip, even if you are very out of shape. You won't regret it!