Hike of the Week: Leque Island

A hiker admires the view from Leque Island out across the Stillaguamish Delta to the Cascades.

Leque Island

Where it’s snowing geese!

by Craig Romano
photo by Craig Romano
produced by Michael Fagin

Quick Facts
Location: Stanwood
Land Agency: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Roundtrip: 1.0 mile
Elevation gain: None
Contact: WA Fish and Wildlife; http://wdfw.wa.gov/lands/wildlife_areas
Notes: WDFW Vehicle Use Permit Required (available at hunting and fishing supply retailers); Active hunting area from October to late January
Access: From Exit 212 on I-5 travel west 5.0 miles to Stanwood. Continue west through town another mile turning left (use caution on this turn) onto Eide Road just after crossing Mark Clark Bridge. Proceed south on Eide Road for one mile south to trailhead at Smith Farm.

This is a short and easy hike on a small island wedged between Camano Island and the mainland and Skagit and Port Susan Bays. In the spring of 1876 a handful of Scandinavian immigrants diked several hundred acres of the Stillaguamish River Delta forming this island. The N.P. Leque family then homesteaded on the island farming on it until the 1940s. Farming activity continued on the island until 1994 when the land became part of the Skagit Wildlife Area managed by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Providing important habitat for a variety of fish and wildlife species, the island is also a popular spot for waterfowl hunting and bird watching. With a majority of the island (325 acres) now within Fish and Wildlife property, contract farming is carried out to plant cereal grain for food for wintering waterfowl. Leque Island like most of the Skagit and Stillaguamish Deltas is a superb place for watching snow geese. Tens of thousands of them arrive here from Alaska’s Wrangel Island each fall to winter. One of Washington’s spectacular annual animal events, the geese can be breathtaking to watch; especially when a cloud of them rises above the flats emitting a loud noisy whouking sound.
From the trailhead head south on an old farm track-turned trail along a field of squawking birds and alongside a dike preventing that field from reverting back to wetland. At about .4 mile turn left following a path to the dike. Here wander a bit taking in exceptional views of the Stillaguamish Delta with Mount Baker, Three Fingers, Whitehorse Mountain, and Mount Pilchuck hovering above.
Stay for awhile admiring the snow geese and trying to identify the numerous other birds that frolic the shores and grassy interior of the island.

For information on lodging and other attractions near Leque Island visit Click here for link to Snohomish County