Most people know of Pass Lake as the place where fly fishermen only, either using float tubes or unmotorized boats, catch and release trout, but it’s also a great place to canoe, kayak and hike.
Elevation of Pass Lake trails from Parking lot counterclockwise along Pass Lake Loop, Ginnett, Pass Lake Loop
On a recent sunny Sunday, my friend Erin and I hiked the trails (our goal was to determine if it might be a good place to return for a trail run in the future), which include Pass Lake Loop and Ginnett (the stick of the lollipop), an out and back path that leads down into a valley and then back up, eventually, to a concrete pad near a dirt road with a tree-obstructed view of Lake Campbell. The terrain was pretty hilly and at some locations we had to climb over and around branches and fallen logs. Back on the Pass Lake Loop (we traveled counterclockwise, first along the west side of the lake, then heading towards Ginnett Hill and back to the loop), at the most northwesterly part, we reached the hike’s maximum elevation of 500 feet, neared Rosario Road (along which there is a gate leading to the loop), walked through a clear cut area and returned to the parking lot. While the Deception Pass State Park map shows it to be a 4.2 mile hike, my GPS watch indicated that we covered only 3.7 miles. I suspect that if we had continued past the concrete pad near Ginnett Hill along the dirt road that we noticed when we arrived at what we thought was the end, we would have made up that additional half mile. Although we enjoyed hiking Pass Lake, we concluded that it wasn’t ideal for trail running.
Clockwise: Info sign at Rosario Rd/Hwy 20 entrance to Pass Lake, Discover Pass payment sign, Pass Lake, kayakers with their swimming dog, trail head, intersection of Pass Lake Loop and Ginnett
