s Katharine Mancini and Chester on the way to Cedar Lake.
A fan palm fossil is evidence of global warming in an earlier time. caves are a great spot to rest on the way to the top. They’re also a lot of fun to crawl through and explore for their own sake. Signage on these trails is poor, so you’ll want to take a map. Oyster Dome and the Bat Caves can be accessed by parking along Chuckanut Drive near milepost 10 or by parking at the hang glider lookout on Blanchard Mountain. Canyon Lake Park The hikes at Canyon Lake Park are less known than the previous two. The park is farther from Bellingham and currently quite challenging to access. However, if you can endure the 5.5-mile road approach, you’ll be rewarded with one of Whatcom County’s finest and infrequently visited natural areas. The park was established in the early 2000s to protect the oldest known stand of old growth forest in the state of Washington. The 600-acre stand holds trees 800 to 1,000 years old and is managed jointly by the Whatcom County parks department and Western Washington University. The Whatcom Land Trust holds the conser-
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s Solitude and rushing waters.
vation easement that protects the park and ensures the land will never be developed. In addition to accessing the old growth forest the park was established to protect, the trails at Canyon Lake climb steeply to dramatic ridgetop views of Mt. Baker and the Twins range to the east and the Nooksack Valley to the west. At the lower elevation end of the park, the lake loop trail circles the steep-sided namesake of the park while providing dramatic views of waterfalls cascading into the lake. Canyon Lake Park is at a higher elevation than the Chuckanuts and has received a lot of snow this year. It will take several more weeks before all of the hikes in the park are snowfree, though the lake loop is already clear. Directions to the park can be found on the parks department website. Be warned though, the access road has been cut off by a washout and is now gated off at the base of the mountain. Just getting to the park requires 5.5 miles of hiking or mountain biking (recommended) along logging roads. Mount Baker Experience • Summer 2011 5