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!

Join Friends of the ACFL on our monthly senior hike!

Owls developed nocturnal habits to avoid competition from diurnal hawks and other birds of prey, and have various adaptations that make them particularly adept for hunting in the dark. Join this hike to find out more about owls and their nocturnal adaptations, and if we’re lucky, maybe we’ll hear or even see one!

Join Friends of the ACFL to learn about animals in the forest! We’ll talk about which animals we see the most, what our animals are doing in the winter, and how to look for clues they leave behind. 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.

Freddy Fungus and Alice Algae took a lichen’ to each other, and maybe you know the rest?

Celebrate the holly-day season with an oh-so-satisfying stewardship hike with Friends of the Forest! Join us for a (mostly) relaxing stroll through the ACFL, where we will be tasked with pulling out any young English holly that is growing near the trails.

Join us for our monthly Senior Stroll through the ACFL!

Join Friends of the ACFL to start your year learning all about the magic and importance of water for our local ecosystem. We’ll talk about water critters and their adaptations to survive in the wettest months, use water to make art, and more. 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 those  or those looking to explore a new section of the ACFL but please be aware that this hike will be at a slower pace than our other community hikes.

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 close out the year in celebration of our community forests.

Orange jelly spot, red belted conk, ink cap, corals, puffballs and more! Join Friends of the ACFL for a mushroom scavenger hunt, a game of mushroom tag, touching, looking at, and learning about our marvelous mushroom rainbow. We’ll talk about why mushrooms are so important for our forest, why they come out in the winter, and what makes them special.

Join us for a community hike through the old growth of the ACFL!

Join Friends of the Forest on our monthly senior hike!

Did you know we have several families of beavers in the ACFL? Join us on this family hike to learn about beavers and their families!