Post-Industrial Renewal - Bay to Baker Trail/Little Squalicum Park

For this walk I decided to do Bay to Baker Trail. Contrary to the name, the trail doesn't connect the bay and Baker (that would be a long trail). It goes from the bay and goes toward Baker, but it ends on Squalicum Parkway near Northwest Ave. I took it as far as the new Squalicum Creek Park, then took a loop back to the parking.

Parking is at the corner of Marine Drive and W Illinois St. (Alternatively, there is parking at Squalicum Creek Park off Squalicum Pkwy, and at low tide you can also park on the north end of Roeder Ave and walk along the beach to meet up with the trail as well.)

Bay-to-Baker Trail (from Little Squalicum Park to Squalicum Creek Park)
Bellingham Parks & Rec
Parking permit: None needed
Distance: 2.25 miles
Elevation: minimal

From the parking lot, a smokestack for Oeser Co. is clearly visible. The park is actually a Superfund cleanup site. Pollution from the wood treatment facility leached into Squalicum Creek. The park is also over an old landfill. Generally speaking, it's best to keep pets and kids out of the creek.

Getting on the trail heading east, you can look down into the main part of the park. This area is off-leash friendly for dogs, which my puppy appreciated. Heading west will take you down into the park, but I planned to loop back this way later.

There is a railroad crossing and I'm 95% sure the tracks are defunct, but use caution anyway. The end of the line is just a block away at a warehouse.

The tracks that run along the path are defunct, with well-vandalized train signals. The tracks eventually fade into oblivion.

I thought there was something strangely pretty about the meeting of the park and the industrial area.

Leaving Oeser Co. behind, the trail ventures into residential areas. I had to photograph this person's bees. It's too cold this time of year for them, so they're hibernating I guess. In the spring be warned that they have a lot of bees. They're friendly though, I think.

The tracks start to become more and more overgrown...

...until here they disappear into the brush. I believe they eventually reappear further inland, but for this walk this is the last I saw of them.

Eventually you hit two parks that are adjacent to each other. Birchwood Park is a small park on the north side of the trail that has a picnic shelter, a basketball court, and a playground.

On the south end at the bottom of some stairs is the newer Squalicum Creek Park . It has a baseball diamond, baskeball court, and a playground, and I was surprised to discover it also has a fenced dog park as well. There's still some development going on, so more may be coming.

I went down the stairs and looped clockwise around the park. There's a lot of fairly fresh landscaping here; when I checked on Google Maps ahead of time the satellite view actually showed the park still under construction. It's a decent sized park in an area that needed one.

In the southeast corner of the park, I took the gravel path that led up to the corner of Lafayette St and Maryland St. Straight down Maryland St, you can see the Bellingham Technical College campus.

A trailhead for Little Squalicum Creek Park is in the BTC parking lot, so I wandered around campus to find it.

There's the Oeser Co. smokestack again. This looks familiar, from a different perspective.

You have to take the trail out to the beach before it will connect with the upper trails. I let Ozzy lead the way.

Marine Dr crosses over the park.

There's also a railroad bridge, and a train was crossing as I approached.

At the beach, signs indicate the pollution in the water.

The run-off pours into the bay here. Lots of signs in the area remind local residents to not over-fertilize and prevent toxins from ending up in the water. I'm not sure they could mess things up more than the industrial pollution, though.

Still, it was a scenic day at the beach. Out in the middle of the bay, I could see Fairhaven Shipyard's "Faithful Servant" drydock barge loading or unloading something.

From the beach you just continue the trail uphill back to the parking lot.

That's it for 2015. Have a safe and wonderful New Year!

Tracking the train tracks - South Bay Trail

South Bay Trail is a popular pedestrian connector between Downtown Bellingham and the Historic Fairhaven District. The trail runs along old railroad grade, making it a level and easy walk. It's highly popular with joggers and cyclists as well.

Safety Note: This trail crosses active railroad tracks. Listen and look for trains and use common sense when crossing!

South Bay Trail
Bellingham Parks & Recreation
Parking permit: None needed
Distance: 2 miles one-way

Truthfully, I started this hike by parking in the turnouts off of State Street, which is in the middle of the trail. You can find parking there and in Boulevard Park, or at the south end near the Chrysalis Inn on 10th St. I'll try and arrange my guide from south to north, but first a few photos near where I parked at the turn-outs:

I don't recall the name of this sculpture, but I know it was there when I lived in Bellingham the first time when I was like 4 years old, so it's been here a while:

This was an old....pottery works, maybe? I forget exactly.

And lastly, looking down into Boulevard Park. We'll come back here in a bit.

We'll start at the Chrysalis Inn. If you're here on lunch, their restaurant, Keenan's, is not altogether absurdly priced. I ate there once and had an apple-and-brie sandwich with cucumber gazpacho soup, which on a hot summer day was divine.

But, I digress. Our trail starts at the dock at the intersection of 10th St and Taylor Ave. Here, you can overlook the harbor at Fairhaven.

Scenic

You can see Lummi Island, as well as the flat Eliza Island a bit closer. There is also Portage Island and the Lummi Reservation visible across the bay.

Fun fact: the fence is curved at the top there to prevent people from climbing over and throwing themselves onto the tracks below. That's...that's a "fun" fact, right?

The grade is steep, so regular landings allow people in wheelchairs and people pushing heavy strollers to stop for breaks.

The dock turns and follows the shore northward. At the end is a small beach that's pretty decent for kids to play on.

Back on land, someone decorated the path with festive baubles for the holiday season!

Another small bridge takes you into the main part of Boulevard Park, where you can stop for a warm drink at Wood's Coffee. They even have a walk-up window so if you have a pup with you (as I usually do), you can still get your caffeine fix!

One thing about being on the waterfront this close to Fairhaven is that you get plenty of artists. Often someone will be painting or playing music. I passed a guitarist who did an amazing cover of Alex Clare's "Too Close". Unfortunately I didn't have any cash on me to drop in the beckoning hat he had laid out on the ground.

He had serious talent, though

Note to buskers: Square credit card readers are a thing; get on it!

You can see the coffee shop poking out there on the point of land. It's the most scenic coffeehouse in town, in my opinion. Good luck finding a place to sit inside on a busy day though; it's regularly packed, especially on a cold day like this was.

Most of the shoreline is rocky, but just past the coffee shop there's a bit of sandy beach. This was actually artificially installed within the last couple years. Another great place to take the kids!

The north end of the park has a small stage where free concerts are periodically held in the summer. On this day, a lone musician was bellowing away on a didgeridoo.

There is also a stair bridge that leads over the tracks. If you parked on the turn-outs off of State St (as I did), this is your best way between the parking up there and the park.

I saw three cormorants, a blue heron, and a seagull just chilling on some pilings at the north end of the park. The dock here is blocked off for safety reasons; future goals involve putting in a boardwalk here that will run to a planned park at the end of Cornwall Ave.

At the end of the park, cross the tracks and continue along South Bay Trail. There is a gate arm and lights that were installed after a few pedestrians got mowed down by trains. Still, use caution when crossing!

The trail more or less follows the tracks into downtown.

Tugboat towing a floating crane piqued my interest.

There are a few historical markers along the trail, including this one marking where the old towns of Fairhaven and Whatcom once joined. (Modern-day Bellingham is a fusion of 4 old towns: Bellingham, Sehome, Whatcom, and Fairhaven.)

I found more festive decorations here!

From the trail, you can see a bit of the landfill at the end of Cornwall Ave. This is the planned site of the future park. They are working on cleaning up the landfill and the nearby defunct Georgia-Pacific mill with the goal of creating a new park and commercial space.

The trail crosses Wharf Street as it heads into downtown. An old train wheel marks where the trail crosses over an old train trestle.

The Hub Bike Shop and The Wailing Goat Espresso stand mark the end of the trail. You won't miss it. The bike shop is part functional shop, part art exhibit.

The trail ends in an alley about a block from the Bellingham Farmer's Market and the main downtown core, though today a few cars were blocking said alley. It was getting late for me so I turned around here.

South Bay Trail blends well into the rest of the urban trail network. On the south end near Chrysalis Inn, a gravel path leads you into Fairhaven and connects with the Interurban Trail. On the north end, it is an easy walk to Maritime Heritage Park and the Whatcom Creek trails.