Canyon Lake Creek Community Forest

A Whatcom County Park

Home Definitions How Much Sites Canyon Lake	One of the closest and easily accessible stands of old growth forest exists just 25 miles east of Bellingham Washington. The vast majority of old growth forest requires extensive hiking and travel to see. In a few places in this world old growth forests still exist close to cities and with a relatively easy access. We don’t want to infer that Canyon Lake Community Forest is accessible to the handicapped, it is not, but it is only a 25 mile drive from Interstate-5 and only about a 5 mile hike up an old logging road (now closed to traffic) and about 3,000 feet of elevation gain in that 5 miles to see this wonderful stand of old growth forest. This is a new park and as the sign above displays, not a lot has been invested in this park in the way of amenities as of the summer of 2003. This 2,300 acre park was purchased by Whatcom County with a majority of the purchase prices coming from the Whatcom Land Trust and several private contributors including the Paul G. Allen Forest Protection Foundation. When we visited there were no restroom facilities.
	A 600 acre portion of this park contains old growth forest with trees from 800 to 1000 years old according to forestry experts. Whatcom County entered into a joint maintenance and research agreement with Western Washington University and the Whatcom Land Trust to care for the park. You access this park by driving up poorly signed logging roads that are steep, narrow, gravel roads which are one lane with passing turnouts. We do not recommend that recreation vehicles or trailers use the access road. Much of the area the access road crosses to get to the park has been recently logged. The purchase of this site saved the old growth forest from being logged. Only 600 acres of the 2,300 acres in the park are old growth forest. The rest of the land has been part of a managed forestland.
	When you arrive at the park you will find a gravel parking lot and barricades on the road barring vehicular use. The parking lot is located on Canyon Lake Creek just downstream from the outlet from the lake. The roadway continues up the north side of the Lake and offers a wide path with a gentle start into the park. The first three miles to the trailhead to the Old-Growth Trail rises gently. The next 1.2 miles of the Old-Growth Trail is very steep.
	There is also a bridge over the creek which will take you on a path around the south side of the lake. The area from here to the lake is a natural dam caused by a landslide that occurred about 150 years ago. There are many snags in the lake that occurred naturally and were not caused by logging in the area. The trail around the south side of the lake offers an interesting lakeside hike and you may even see some sundews, a carnivorous plant that lives off insects that get caught in it. At the end of the upper trail, whether you take the old logging road or you take the Old Growth Trail that branches off at about the three mile point, you end up at the end of the logging road at the top of a ridge that offers breath taking views of Mt. Baker, The Twin Sisters mountains, and the valleys below. As if the old growth forest and ancient trees nearly 1000 years old aren’t enough, the views from the end of the trail are the icing on the cake. And just in case that is still not enough reward for traversing the logging roads and steep trail you will not only find a lovely unspoiled mountain lake, you will find several waterfalls coming down the steep canyon walls.
	Directions to the Park Take Interstate-5 Exit 255 in Bellingham, WA and head east on the Mt. Baker Highway Scenic Byway. Head east to the Mosquito Lake Road in Mile 16. Turn right (south) on the Mosquito Lake Road and watch for the road entrance on the left (east) side of the road. A residence at the turn has several rusting logging machinery relics as art on the property. Turn left on the access road and drive six miles up the logging road. There are several branches on the road and there are a few signs to help you find your way. You will think you took a wrong turn before you reach the park, but keep going. Danger: This is a day use park, the road is gated, and is locked at sunset. Be sure to arrive early and leave in plenty of time to get out the gate before it is locked. These are logging roads so you may meet logging trucks and there are no guard rails so drive with care. Cars have little difficulty traversing this road but this is no road for vehicles with low ground clearance, RV’s, trailers, or long vehicles. This site is closed during extreme forest fire danger, check the County Parks web site below. For more information visit: The Mt. Baker Highway Scenic Byway page one northwestplaces.com http://www.northwestplaces.com/trips001/MBakerHwy001.htm Whatcom County Parks – Canyon Lake Park page. http://www.co.whatcom.wa.us/parks/trails/canyonlake.jsp

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