Alderbrook Resort & Spa Blog

We’re celebrating Earth Day out here at Alderbrook Resort & Spa the best way we know how: by planting trees. You can help us sustain our shared planet by booking a room on Earth Day (Friday, April 22nd, 2022) for any day in the future, and we will plant a tree.

From fairybells, fawn lilies, false solomon’s seals, and fox gloves to trilliums, twin flowers, irises, and violets, Alderbrook is a glorious place to hunt for wildflowers.

When you arrive at the Dogwood Ridge Trail, you really feel like you’re in the wilderness. All the hubbub of the resort has subsided, all your stresses have melted away, and all that’s left is you, the twittering birds, and a lush thicket of huckleberry bushes.

There are many attributes of the Western Red Cedar that make it the “cornerstone of northwest coast Indian culture,” like its natural resilience against rot. This makes it a great resource as a building material on our nature trails.

A hiker recently saw me armed with a pick and shovel and asked if I was mining for gold. I was just doing some trail maintenance with no intention of looking for literal gold in these hills, but I am aware of another kind of “gold” found here, the American matsutake mushroom.

Everybody knows Alderbrook has big trees, beautiful mountain views, and a glacier-carved fjord. But did you know we have alligators, too? Not actual 10 foot long alligators, thank goodness. Rather, the 10 inch long northern alligator lizard.

We are lucky to have a plethora of fruiting plants here in the PNW. As one species starts to wane, another ripens in its place. Right now is prime picking season for salal berries, which are arguably the best we have (Disclaimer: I say this about EVERY berry). The dark blue berries are sweet, juicy, and best of all, plentiful.

As much as we would like for all the trees in the Alderbrook Woods to grow into giants and live forever, that is not the case.

I’m always happy to see somebody run past me on the trails. They are usually smiling kids, eager to see what lies ahead. But adults, too, with a little sweat running down their face, let their bodies ebb and flow over the gentle hills of the Alderbrook Woods.

Usually when we think of plants, we think of green leaves photosynthesizing in the sun. We call these autotrophs because they create their own energy. But there are some oddball plants, called heterotrophs, that get their energy from outside sources. Some of these parasitic plants attach straight to the root of a host plant, while others, known as mycotrophic, use fungi as intermediaries to derive energy from nearby host plants.

The witches scene in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” describes a concoction that consists of “Eye of newt and toe of frog, Wool of bat and tongue of dog…” Luckily, these terms refer to plants, not actual animal parts.

A perfect place to enjoy the morning sun on the Olympic Mountains or stretch your legs after dinner.

Meander past the base of giant firs that escaped the logger’s saw for the last century. Wear sturdy footwear and expect to duck under a fallen tree.

Our most remote trail offers several loop options and two fun creek crossings. A short side trip leads to a peek-a-book view of Hood Canal.

An even longer route to the top, this trail explores interesting boardwalks and bridges. The Licorice Fern sprouts on tree trunks after a rain and disappears in dry weather. See if you can spot it along the way.

If you feel like a longer hike, follow this trail to the top of the hill. Along the way, you will dip in and out of the creek valley before climbing to a sweeping view of Hood Canal and the Olympics.