Kayaking Lake Cavanaugh

Nestled in the Cascade Mountains about 23 miles Northeast of Arlington Washington in Skagit County to South Shore Drive you will find Lake Cavanaugh kayaking adventures.

Public lake lake access can be had at Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
public water access point featuring parking, toilet and boat ramp. The WDF site requires a vehicle use permit..

If you haven’t been to Lake Cavanaugh before, the trip from Arlington north up highway nine is sort of a step back in time. Compared to the rest of the look and feel of the beige cookie cutter housing landscape of Western Washington and Puget Sound area, what I call “Beige-a-vue”,  where all is painted in pastel beige like colors and other boring featureless features. The wayback machine road is two lane with a one way bridge, sharp corners and refreshingly not populated with McMansions but rather old fashioned Ma and Pa Kettle like farms and homes. The Finn Settlement road from highway 9 to the lake is sparsely populated. I almost turned back to “civilization” thinking I had missed the lake somehow. Keep going to South Shore Drive turn off and then several more miles to the southeastern end of the lake. Keep a sharp eye out for the WDF site. If you go past the little real estate office or the community center, and Deer Creek Road, a gravel road to highway 530 Arlington Darrington Road, turn around and head back along the lake to find the water access point.

Parking is good and the boat ramp area is an easy in and out for a kayak user. Put the required parking permit on the dashboard and enjoy hours of paddling around the lake with views of cabins and mountains.

The route to the lake is sort of country with forest but the lake shore is packed with cabins and McMansions. On a scale of 0-10 of natural getaway beauty, this place is about 6 or so. There are many interesting million dollar homes to gauk and fantasize about days gone by and what the community could have been or looked like today with some planning.

The mountains around the lake are packed with some nice views. Towering snow packed peaks on the east end offer a break from the suburban look along the shore.

On the west end of the lake there are a couple of little islands to row around on the way around the 844 plus acre lake. Lakes in Skagit County describes the size and some fishing possibilities. That is the primary reason for the WDF water access shared by the public into using the lake.

Check out the Map of Lake Cavanaugh

There are no services in or around Lake Cavanaugh. 3 or more hours could be spend leisurely kayaking around the perimeter of the lake shore. I was fortunate on this trip with smooth as glass waters until almost then end of my circumventing Lake Cavanaugh. Like most kayaking adventures plan for wind and other weather conditions that can be tough to deal with if you are not prepared properly. I suspect on summer days there could be a lot of speeding boats with wakes and noise. I carry hearing protection just in case. Nothing getting an hour away trapped between screeching noise of boats, weed whackers, chain saws, lawn mowers and such.

If you are looking for a lake with mountain views close to the big shitty, Seattle 66 miles, this might be an interesting choice if you bring everything you need. If your looking for a lake lined with nature, animals, birds etc. quiet, this probably isn’t that kind of lake unless your into shopping for real estate. Isn’t there a financial crisis caused by that industry? Hmmm

Anyone interested in pictures of Lake Cavanaugh pictures can see different views from the kayak on a nice sunny day at Iwitnesspics.com.