Cornwall Park
by Ginger Oppenheimer1/4/2008 11:36:11 AM
Login to leave ratings
Average Rating : 0.0
Cornwall Park is, quite literally, a cool place to visit year round. With so many big evergreens casting shade in much of the park, the weather’s always cool within park boundaries. But it is truly a great place to go—Cornwall is a peaceful, family park with play lots, a splash pool, the requisite trails through the woods, picnic areas and shelters, tennis and basketball courts, playing fields, and something unique in Bellingham: a disc golf course. Squalicum Creek runs through the north end of the park, too. Cornwall Park, a beautiful urban forest, is a great place to play and relax with the whole family.
Welcome to Cornwall Park.Park History
In 1909, Bertha Cornwall-Fischer presented the city with 65 acres at the north terminus of Cornwall Avenue. The property had been in the Cornwall family since 1883 and the land was established as Cornwall Memorial Park in honor of Bertha’s father, Pierre Barlow Cornwall, who had died in 1904. Cornwall, who also lends his name to the avenue on which the park is located, was a San Francisco industrialist and philanthropist at the turn of the century. He owned and ran a variety of Bellingham businesses, such as coal mining, lumber milling, and the railroad. He was also instrumental in “talking up” Bellingham to draw settlers to the area.
In 1918, an archway dedicated to Bertha Cornwall-Fischer was constructed over the single Meridian Street entrance. The archway was replaced with a stone archway in 1923, but the pillars are all that remain today. In the Roaring Twenties, automobile tourism was all the rage and so an automobile tourist camp was set up just inside the Meridian Street entrance. Nearly a thousand visitors came each summer to pitch a tent beside their cars and enjoy Cornwall Park. The camp was closed in 1927. In 1938, an additional entrance further north on Meridian Street was opened to accommodate a lawn bowling club. That building now houses the Bellingham Parks Department administrative offices.
A great playground for any season.Playground
You won’t want to miss the playground at the north end of the park. Sporting a splash pool and lots of equipment, this area is perfect for extended family gatherings during summer or winter; it’s right next to one of two big picnic shelters at the park. Basketball courts are here too. And there’s ample parking if you're here for a family reunion. On the south side of the park, you’ll find a Tot Lot, which is due for rehab in the spring of 2008.
Expansive open play fields on the east side of the park near the picnic shelter invite spontaneous volleyball, soccer, or baseball games. The fields look idyllic in the summer and are great places for impromptu family play.
Disc Golf
Even if you are not a disc golfer—or as some call it, Frisbee golf—this is a very fun activity to watch. The course has nine “holes,” which are actually netted baskets that sit above ground. The “golfers” tee off by throwing their specialized discs, which are smaller than traditional flying discs and Frisbees, through trees and around bends toward the baskets. Players walk from one hole to the next, playing through the woods in a peaceful and quiet setting. This is a really fun family sport, although a little challenging for the young set. Disc golfers are a very congenial group and many are willing to help others and give tips for specific holes along the way. At Cornwall Park’s first hole, you’ll find a bulletin board at that gives rules and courtesy information. Check out this comprehensive set of rules to learn more about the game. Disc golf is a great challenge and provides a nice break in your day or summer evening. Even if you don’t play, watching others provides hours of entertainment, especially since some players keep at it past sunset.
Squalicum CreekA Creek Runs Through It
Squalicum Creek is fun to explore. Take park trails to the creek and over several bridges—perfect for tossing sticks on one side and quickly running to the other side to watch them appear beneath you and float downstream. A peaceful set of pools in sandstone (once called Bedrock Falls) is also a nice place to play and the fallen logs are great for balancing.
You can watch for salmon in the fall here, too. This map shows the source of Squalicum Creek. It’s a good study subject for your kids—help them trace the origins of the creek from Bug Lake (at the 90-degree turn where Squalicum Parkway becomes Birchwood Avenue) through Cornwall Park and along the length of Squalicum Parkway out to the bay. Imagine in the 1920s that here at the bay there was a public beach for swimming, but this was also a very industrial area, where coal from the local coal mines was loaded nearby. Just half a mile away a splendid park protected the creek until it ran down into the bay along the very industrial section of bay front.
While there are no longer traces of the coal mines here, there’s not much to suggest a public beach, either. Squalicum Creek enters the bay through a culvert now. The Port of Bellingham is currently planning to improve the delta area of Squalicum Creek to include boulders and a marshy area to address salmon passage into the creek. Check the area now to see what it’s like and what barriers face salmon from making it all the way upstream to Cornwall Park.
Trek over creeks and through tall trees.Trails
Cornwall Park trails are both gravel and dirt, traveling through and around the 65-acre park. They connect all the disparate parts of the park: tennis courts, a horseshoe throwing area, picnic shelters and barbeque pits, and the creek. You can even get you from the north end of the park to the south end by trail, but not by roadways. Originally, the roads went through from the south entrance of the park at the end of Cornwall Avenue to one of the entrances on the Guide Meridian. When the roads became a convenient shortcut for commercial vehicles, causing added deterioration besides basic park traffic, the connection was cut off. Now the best way to navigate the entire park is by bike or on foot. These trails take you through the looming evergreens, providing great places to stop and study the various kinds of trees and look for birds and squirrels.
You can drive though right to the Cornwall Park Rose Garden, which is outside the park boundaries proper at the corner of Cornwall Avenue and W. Illinois Street. Stop by during the bright and sunny summer months when the roses are blooming to admiring the varieties and colors and scents of these gorgeous blossoms. This sunny location is also a nice contrast to the treed coolness of the majority of the park.
Other Activities
In October 2007, a Cyclocross race was held at Cornwall Park and another may be held in the fall of 2008. Watch for information on the local Cyclocross website. Click here to see the Cornwall Park course from 2007.
Cyclocross, which enthusiasts call 'Cross, is an autumn and winter bike racing sport on grass. The bikes are similar to road bikes, but have some major differences, including knobby tires, which allow bikers to ride more easily on turf. The bikes are also lighter in weight than mountain bikes, which is an important feature, because you always pick up and run with your bike for part of the course!
Courses are set up with barriers, spirals, around buildings, across bridges; generally the course designers use the natural terrain and other features creatively to come up with some challenging and fun obstacles. The races are usually mass starts and multi-laps events with divisions for youth (10 and above) as well. Because of the challenges on the race, they are not fast, like road races. The sport is catching on in the States, but is wildly popular in Europe where crowds watch elite 'Cross riders compete.
This really is a great way to learn bike skills and learn how to race in a fun and supportive environment. Practices are at 6 pm Wednesdays September to mid-December at Lake Padden Park by the ballfields and dog off-leash area (at the end of the road). These practices are for families with kids older than 10.
Further Information
Cornwall Park
3224 Meridian and 2800 Cornwall
Bellingham, WA 98225