Each quarter, we are teaming up with the Anacortes Public Library to celebrate the less-traveled trails of the ACFL. New and seasoned hikers welcome!

Join us for a hearty hike to the top of Sugarloaf for a calm September sunset. The challenging hike up is rewarded with a stunning summit view of the San Juan Islands and Olympic Mountains.

Join Friends of the ACFL as we look for and explore spider webs, learn about spider silk, and practice moving like spiders.

This month, we’ll explore the wet and low lying places around Big Beaver Pond! Join us to find evidence of beavers and learn more about these incredible ecosystem engineers.

This month, we’ll explore areas around Mitten Pond! Join us for a gentle stroll through stands of mossy maples, sleeping wetlands, and fern-covered rocks.

Join this hike to learn more about the plants of the ACFL and to celebrate how plants can be used to enrich our own lives.

Libraries love lakes, and so do the Friends of the ACFL! Throughout the month of July, we are partnering with the Anacortes Library and Skagit County Public Works to celebrate the lakes of Fidalgo Island. Join us as we tread on trails less-travelled and learn why these lakes are the backbone of our community forest lands.

Explore the world of tiny creatures that inhabit our local lakes and how they relate to water quality! We will bring crawly critters found in macroinvertebrate surveys and equipment to view them up close.

Libraries love lakes, and so do the Friends of the ACFL! Throughout the month of July, we are partnering with the Anacortes Library and Skagit County Public Works to celebrate the lakes of Fidalgo Island. Join us as we tread on trails less-travelled and learn why these lakes are the backbone of our community forest lands.

Join Friends of the ACFL as we celebrate lakes through looking for lake critters, getting our hands wet and talking about how to keep our lakes clean and healthy.

This month, we’ll explore areas around the ACFL’s deepest lake! Join us for a gentle walk along the scenic lakeshore and under towering madrones.

Libraries love lakes, and so do the Friends of the ACFL! Throughout the month of July, we are partnering with the Anacortes Library and Skagit County Public Works to celebrate the lakes of Fidalgo Island. Join us as we tread on trails less-travelled and learn why these lakes are the backbone of our community forest lands.

In 2016, a wildfire burned nearly 18 acres of the west ridge of Little Cranberry Lake. Thanks to the speedy action of the Washington DNR and other firefighting agencies, the 2016 fire was contained quickly and greater damage was avoided.

This long evening hike will take us into all three ACFL corridors! We’ll cruise through the Heart Lake corridor with a lollipop loop in the Little Cranberry corridor, and then duck back for a short spurt through the Whistle Lake corridor (just to say we did!)

Join Friends of the ACFL as we learn about our bugs who are creeping, crawling and buzzing around!

This month, we’ll explore the mysteries of the old growth forest at the south end of Heart Lake! Wander through towering stands of Douglas-fir and western redcedar, and appreciate the work of the community that protected them.

Join Friends of the ACFL and the City of Anacortes for a National Trails Day work party in the ACFL!

In 2019, a group of citizen scientists and community members, in partnership with Transition Fidalgo and the City of Anacortes, came together to form the ACFL Forest Monitoring Program. Since then, volunteers have been hard at work collecting valuable data on the health of the forest ecosystems in our backyard. Join WSU Postdoc Robbie Andrus on an exploration of the woods around [location TDB], and learn how citizen science helps us better understand the ecosystems of the ACFL!

Celebrate the return of spring with a bracing hike through Sugarloaf’s flowering meadows! Join Friends of the Forest as we explore the many spring flowers that call the ACFL home (and the view will be nice, too.) You are welcome to bring your own loupes, notebooks, and plant guides.

This month, we’ll look for spring wildflowers in the Little Cranberry Lake burn zone! Some of the trails we’ll be hiking on are steep, so hiking poles are recommended for this hike.

Join Friends of the ACFL as we learn about our feathered forest friends. We’ll talk about and look for common birds in ACFL, practice moving like birds and make our own nests to help us learn about baby birds.

Join us downtown Anacortes to celebrate Earth Day!

Celebrate the return of spring with a bracing hike around Little Cranberry Lake! Join Friends of the ACFL as we explore the many spring flowers that call the ACFL home.

This month, we’ll explore the wet and low lying places around Big Beaver Pond! Join us to find evidence of beavers and learn more about these incredible ecosystem engineers.

Join Friends of the ACFL as we learn about the largest plants in the forest and look for signs of spring in our friendly giants.

Join us for our monthly Senior Stroll through the ACFL!

Join Friends of the ACFL as we learn about frogs, toads, salamanders and other local amphibians. We’ll hop along “lily pads”, look for amphibian eggs, and listen for our slimy friends. This hike is ideal for families with kids ages 0-10 and we will take a slow pace with stops along the way to accommodate our smallest hikers. We welcome all animal enthusiasts and beginner trackers, but please be aware that this hike will be at a slower pace than our other community hikes.

Join Friends of the ACFL on a quiet stroll to appreciate the evening wildlife around our beaver wetlands.

Join Friends of the ACFL for our annual meeting. All are welcome to attend and here about what has been happening at Friends, learn about easements from Michael Kirshenbaum, the conservation director at Skagit Land Trust, and meet the staff, board, and city officials that help the ACFL thrive!