When I was a young boy, our family would occasionally make our way up Chuckanaut Drive after church to have Sunday dinner at the Oyster Bar.
The Oyster Bar back then wasn’t anything like today version, which is gourmet and pricey, a restaurant you’d go to celebrate a special occasion, like your wedding anniversary.
The “original” Oyster Bar was more like Ivar’s Salmon House light. It had more of a casual dining feel. Your modestly-priced dinner — oysters, breaded prawns or fish and chips were the usual main fare – arrived on a plain, dinner plate, not the fancy china delivered to your table today. It always came with a crab cocktail appetizer, which I still remember today as very tasty.
But what was really memorable were the words prominently printed on the menu:
“The oysters you eat today, slept last night in Samish Bay.”
Little did I know then a trailhead just across the road from the restaurant led to a rocky vista that looked down on Samish Bay and the surrounding Salish Sea … before it was called the Salish Sea. The final destination on the trail is appropriately called Oyster Dome.
I hiked that trail for the very first time last week. Don’t know why it took me so long. It’s one of the low-elevation, spring hikes I’ve recommended for a story that will be published soon in The Seattle Times.
Oyster Dome
The shallow, firm-bottomed waters of Samish Bay are ideal for growing oysters. No surprise the northern shores of the bay are home to a shellfish farm, and a longtime oyster-specialty restaurant just up the hill on scenic Chuckanut Drive in its early days touted this memorable slogan:
“The oysters you eat today, slept last night in Samish Bay.”
The pearl of this oyster haven looms high overhead. It’s Oyster Dome, a rocky promontory on the western slope of Blanchard Mountain and the pride of the Chuckanut Mountain range.
And when it comes to day hikes, unlike the oysters below, don’t sleep on this one. The views of the Salish Sea from 2,025-foot Oyster Dome are jaw dropping.
To the left is the Skagit River flats, Samish Island, Guemes Island, Anacortes, and Mount Erie near Deception Pass. To the right is the south end of Lummi Island, and straight ahead, the San Juan Islands. Orcas Island is particularly conspicuous among the islands, thanks in part to Mount Constitution, which pokes just 373 feet higher than Oyster Dome.
Framing all this way in the background are the snowcapped Olympic Mountains.
It’s best to begin the hike at the Samish Outlook parking area on Blanchard Mountain. From the trailhead, you’ll start on a section of the Pacific Northwest Trail, descending slightly for 0.4 of a mile before the junction with the Samish Bay connector and trail to Chuckanut Drive.
At this point, give yourself a high five. Not only have you saved time and nearly 1,000 feet of elevation gain by not starting on Chuckanut Drive, the alternative trailhead, your vehicle also isn’t precariously parked on the shoulder of the busy road.
The rest of the 2.5-mile ascent to Oyster Dome is fairly gentle. At about the 2-mile mark you’ll come to a junction for the trail to nearby Lily and Lizard lakes, a camping option for the overnight backpacker.
A final scramble up the hill lands you upon Oyster Dome. Take a break, have lunch, watch an occasional bald eagle fly by, and take in the breathtaking views.
The Inside Scoop 