Hike the Jakle's Lagoon Nature Trail

This 1.0 mile trail, beginning at the Jakle’s Lagoon Trail is an excellent forest and seaside ramble featuring interpretive signs that educate young visitors about the ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest. This area was once heavily logged and deforested to produce open farm fields. It has regenerated in the past 75 years and is once again a forest. Visitors will learn to identify tree species such as Douglas firs, hemlocks and cedars. They will learn about nurse logs and their role in producing the next generation of trees. Interpretive signage also provides young visitors with information about the shrubs that live in the forest's understory, such as sword ferns, salal, and oceanspray plants as well as the lichens and mosses that live on the forest floor. The interpretive signage provides an imaginative way to connect young people to their environment. Animals, such as foxes, eagles, hawks, voles, and woodpeckers may be encountered during your visit. The Nature Walk visits the forest and grasslands, but a short .2 mile detour at the trail’s midpoint allows visitors to drop down to Jakle’s Lagoon where you can explore a saltwater lagoon on the edge of the Salish Sea. Jakle’s Lagoon is named after George Jakle, one of the soldiers in American Camp [LINK] who settled in San Juan Island after the end of the border conflict and became the first lighthouse tender in the Cattle Point area. In this unique and fertile environment you can encounter visiting aquatic mammals such as harbor seals, whales, and smaller creatures such as crabs and starfish.