Neighborhood-Kids All Local. All for Kids. All the Time.

Whatcom Falls Park

by Ginger Oppenheimer11/30/2007 1:41:02 PM

You and your family could spend hours—or days!—in Whatcom Falls Park, located just three miles east of downtown Bellingham. No ordinary city park, Whatcom Falls Park is 241 acres of forested trails with Whatcom Creek originating in and running the length of the park. You’ll find fishing holes, a duck pond, and of course, the falls for which the park named. It’s beautiful and accessible year round. Not only is the park a great place for kids to have fun, but there are lots of educational opportunities too, from learning about fish at the fish hatchery to spotting all kinds of wildlife.

Playground at Whatcom Falls Park.

Whatcom Falls Park is a place for kids of all ages. Playground equipment and swings keep the young set entertained, plus there are basketball and tennis courts and plenty of open fields for games or unstructured play. The variety of trails is ideal for family biking and hiking. Two features of Whatcom Falls Park make kids’ eyes light up: the falls, where many kids jump into the pools at the bottom (more on safety, below) and the fishing ponds, reserved exclusively for kids.

Ready to explore? Let’s go!

Upper/lower parking lots
At the upper parking lot, you’ll find a playground and swings (recently renovated and updated) for young kids, and basketball and tennis courts. Easy trails connect you to the rest of the park. Take the trail down the hill to find restrooms, picnic pavilions, and the lower parking lot near another play area called the Tot Lot (due for renovation in the spring of 2008).

Ponds
Head along the paved trail and within a few minutes you’ll arrive at the fishing pond/duck pond. Here’s where your stale bread and your kids’ enthusiasm come in handy. All parents agree that the little ones love to feed the ducks. While there may be only one or two ducks in the vicinity when you arrive, just toss a few pieces of old bread, and you’ll have lots of mallards gathering around. The waters here are calm and it’s the perfect place to learn how to fish.

Fishing
Kids 14 and under don’t need a fishing license in the state of Washington. Starting at age 15, anglers are required to have a youth fishing license, which costs $7.67. Find more info about youth fishing here. The great thing about Whatcom Falls Park’s fishing is that the creek and the ponds north of the falls are reserved for kids. Whatcom Creek originates out of Scudder’s Pond in the north and fishing the length of the creek down to the pond above the first falls is the kids’ domain.

Derby Pond

To start the season off right, the annual Kids Fishing Derby (which has been taking place for at least 50 years) is held annually on the last Saturday of April, in appropriately named Derby Pond. The derby begins at 9 am for kids 9 and younger. There’s a two-fish limit, with prizes going to the top 10 girls and top 10 boys. Because the pond is stocked with trout just days before, the young kids will get bites right away—often within two minutes or sooner! With guaranteed success like that, the derby is loads of fun for kids and parents alike. Did you participate when you were a kid? A lot of local parents were annual participants, not to mention prizewinners, and they’re bringing their kids back for the tradition.

Don’t forget about fishing safety, from having kids help plan the fishing day to setting a good example.

For kids with special needs you can contact the C.A.S.T. for Kids Foundation to find out about special fishing opportunities in Washington. Call (425) 251-3214 or e-mail jowens@castforkids.org.

Fish Hatchery
The Bellingham Trout Hatchery raises 65,000 rainbow trout and kokanee salmon, which are used to stock sport fishing lakes. The trout are raised for the opening day for fishing and are stocked in lakes all over Washington; the kokanee are at the Whatcom Falls facility only a few months in the spring before being transferred to another facility until their release in the fall. The hatchery is open everyday from 8 am to 5 pm and there are educational signs posted. If hatchery personnel are there, they’ll gladly answer questions, but you can also arrange a tour by calling (360) 676-2138.

The Falls and Swimming
Kids can swim in the quiet waters above the falls. Summer is a great time to head to the ponds, where you can sit on shore and watch the kids splash around. But you can also head downstream below the second set of larger falls where, generally, older kids are jumping into the pools.

A note on safety: there are no lifeguards anywhere along the creek, so these are “swim at your own risk” areas. The parks department has placed signs and barriers above the pools in the past, but they were blatantly disregarded and have been permanently removed. Teens have been injured and even disabled from jumps here. Nevertheless, teens and young adults still jump and the pools remain popular swimming holes in the warmer months.

An iconic stone bridge, built in 1939, crosses below the first set of larger falls and is a great place for everyone to view the falls.

A trail at Whatcom Falls Park.

Hiking and Biking Trails
Bike trails travel all around the park and are easily accessed from the parking lots so your family can ride all around. There are loops upon loops, so you can tailor your ride to any length. The elevation gain is only 250 feet and many trails have gentle grades and are easy for kids of all ages, whether on bike or on foot. If you start at the upper parking lot and head north, the first part of the trail is a gentle downhill to Derby Pond, but flat from there all the way to Scudder’s Pond. Click here for a description and map of trails. From the lower parking lot to the fishing pond, the trail is continuously flat.  Both of these trails are paved and wheelchair accessible.

There are both gravel and paved trails, and most are wide to accommodate families with strollers and dogs. The variety of trails meets every need. You can stay along the creek, which loses elevation as it travels west, giving the most challenging hiking and biking, or stick to the easy trails, which you can take to the peaceful views above Bayview Cemetery or directly into tiny St. Clair Park, abutting the northern edge of Whatcom Falls Park.

Remember to teach your kids early about the importance of sharing our park resources with one another. Click here to learn about trail etiquette.

You can take your dog on all trails, but off-leash trails are limited to the Waterline Trail (south of the creek) west of the water treatment plant to Bayview Cemetery and the trail from the Waterline Trail south to Lakeway.

Whatcom Falls Park trails connect with other city of Bellingham trails in every direction out of the park. That means it works in reverse too. Consider a day trip to the park, starting at a Bellingham trail closest to your home and riding, hiking, or biking to the park to enjoy a picnic or a fun splash in the creek.

Whatcom Falls

Bird Watching
You don’t have to be an avid birder to catch sight of the many birds in Whatcom Falls Park. Because it’s a naturally protected area, the park is home to a variety of birds. Bringing a few sets of binoculars with you is a great way to teach patience to kids and to set goals for searching for wildlife in the park. At the foot of the falls, it’s fun to watch for American dippers—an all-gray songbird that bobs up and down into the water searching for food (the dipper is North America’s only aquatic songbird). Conifers in the park are host to chickadees, stellar’s jays, owls, and several kinds of woodpeckers, including the impressive and noisy pileated woodpecker. At Scudder’s Pond, at the north end of the park near Bloedel-Donovan Park, you can look for a variety of waterfowl, including wood ducks and mergansers, as well as great blue herons.

Pipeline Explosion
You can hardly mention Whatcom Falls Park without including the fact that the Olympic Pipeline, which runs underground through the park, exploded on June 10, 1999. The pipe, which carries fuel from refineries in the north, had been damaged by unrelated construction work for the water treatment plant in the park. Two 10-year-old boys accidentally set the fuel on fire with fireworks. They both died due to the extensive nature of their burns. An 18-year-old, who was fly-fishing, was overcome by the fumes; he fell into the creek and drowned. As a result of the accident and subsequent lawsuits, the Pipeline Safety Trust was established to ensure greater safety of pipelines in communities nationwide. The Trust is based in Bellingham. Olympic Pipeline still travels the length of the park, yet awareness and safety have been heightened as a result of this unfortunately tragedy.

Today the park is essentially recovered, yet some trees at the site of the explosion still bear burn scars. All parts of the park are open, but please stay on trails so that recovery along creek slopes can continue.

Further Information

• Full list of park features


• Two covered picnic shelters can be rented by the hour or the day.


• Bellingham trail maps.


• History of Whatcom Falls Park (scroll down for specifics about the creation of the park and Whatcom Creek as an urban creek).


• Families, school classes, neighbors can volunteer to keep Whatcom Park Falls clean and trails maintained.


• Contact Bellingham Parks and Recreation at (360) 778-7000.

Whatcom Falls Park
1401 Electric Avenue
Bellingham, WA 98229

A Note About the Author: Ginger Oppenheimer

Ginger Oppenheimer has lived in Bellingham for 25 years and is an avid year-round trail runner. She usually can't wait for winter so she can skate ski with her husband. Ginger works in editing and marketing. Dark chocolate is her key to happiness.