Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
or a 5-mile cycle that begins just past Cascade Lake. Beginners beware: the grade is a
persistent 7% (7ft vertical rise for every horizontal 100ft) with frequent hairpin turns.
The park's two major bodies of water,
Cascade Lake
and
Mountain Lake
, offer
campgrounds, good trout fishing, rentable paddle boats and rowboats, picnic areas and
swimming beaches. The lakes are also ringed by hiking trails and linked via a pleasant
wooded ramble that passes the spectacular 100ft-high
Cascade Falls
.
Of the more than 30 miles of trails, about half are open seasonally for mountain biking
and one or two for horses. Get a trail map from the park headquarters at the southern end
of Cascade Lake.
Rosario Mansion Museum
MUSEUM
MAP
(Rosario Resort; 9am-8pm)
Set in the eponymous resort, these rooms around the
hotel's lobby tell the life and times of former Seattle mayor, shipbuilder and ground-
breaking environmentalist Robert Moran, who lived here from 1906 until 1938. Look out
for the ship memorabilia and the huge custom-made organ.
Turtleback Mountain Preserve
PARK
MAP
Saved from possible development when it was bought for $18.5 million as public
land in 2007, Orcas' second mountain (rising to 1519ft) was in private hands for so long
that most people had forgotten what was there. The answer: fragile wetlands, Garry oak
savannah, spectacular overlooks, wild orchids and acres of solitude. It now has trails
open to hikers (daily) and bikers/horseback riders (alternate days). There are two trail-
heads; one is on Crow Valley Rd, while the other (best) one is Wild Rose Lane near Deer
Harbor and has a steep 1.3-mile trail that leads to Ship's Peak and a view that rivals the
one from Mt Constitution.
(
www.turtleheadfarm.com
; 231 Lime Quarry Rd)
for $60 an hour.
Orcas Island Historical Museum
MUSEUM
(
www.oracsmuseum.org
;
181 North Beach Rd, Eastsound; admission $5; 10am-4pm Tue-Sun late
May-late Sep)
Housed in a series of six original homesteader cabins dating from the 1880s,
this island museum relates the pioneer and local history of Orcas and the San Juan Is-
lands. Besides the usual collection of household goods, tools, weapons and photographs,
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