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A Walk Through Fairhaven Park

by Ginger Oppenheimer3/29/2008 11:12:46 AM

Based on everything you can do at Fairhaven Park, you’d never guess how big Fairhaven Park is. Just 16 acres, this city park packs a wallop in terms of what’s there for families: Padden Creek runs along the north edge of the park, there are basketball and tennis courts, picnic tables and barbeque grills, picnic shelters and an enclosed area for family gatherings, a playground and open play area, and connections to trails that take you anywhere you want to go.

Let’s start with the big picture. Fairhaven was established in 1906 as Bellingham's fifth city park with just five acres. It was quickly expanded to 16 acres, thanks to donations from local citizen landowners. It was designed as an urban park by John Olmstead, the son of Frederick Law Olmstead, who designed the famous Central Park in New York City.

Today, the park maintains a lovely designed, yet natural feel. Drive alongside the stone and brick archway (constructed in 1925 to replace a log archway) and you’ll see the entire park glide up into the fir trees that ring its borders and the creek on the north. The parking lot, on the immediate right, was the site of an automobile tourist camp in the early 1920s. This was a popular time for auto travel when camping beside your car was all the rage. The camp was shut down after not too long. Today it’s a familiar parking lot and basketball court.

Families enjoy the playground on a sunny day.

Activities
Fairhaven Park has one of the most popular playgrounds around, complete with a fountain splash pool that’s always busy during the warm months. This is a great place to let the little ones splash about with friends while you sit on the sidelines and enjoy friendships. It’s a perfect break for moms and kids alike.

The open lawns at the top of the park invite all kinds of unstructured play as well. These are great fields for spontaneous kickball or a little softball practice with the family. Because of the park’s location along the creek, don’t be surprised if you see white-tailed deer calmly grazing in the park. They’re not tame, but Bellingham’s green spaces have allowed the deer to be comfortable in our urban landscape and not too scared of people. They’re a little blasé about people nearby, but will skitter away if you scare them suddenly. Watch from afar so they can graze in peace.

Explore Fairhaven Park along wide, easy trails.

There’s a wide graveled trail of about 0.5 miles around the park that’s wheelchair accessible. Several spots on the trail on the north side of the park drop down to Padden Creek. It’s easy to spend hours here, looking for creatures, turning rocks over to see what’s underneath, or watching salmon in the fall. Then you can pop back out into the park and the sunlight again. Everything is so compact here, it’s easy to do it all in a day or just an afternoon.

The trails also connect to the Interurban/greenways trails, which will take you quickly down to Bellingham Bay or east and south to the Interurban Trail and Arroyo Park, or all the way up to Lake Padden. Getting to the park via trail from just about anywhere in Bellingham is just as easy, too. 

Reserve the enclosed shelter for a gathering at any time of year.

Picnic areas
Family gatherings at Fairhaven Park are a dream. There are three shelters—a relatively small one, a larger one, complete with bathrooms, and an enclosed one, which is ideal for our wetter winter days. These are great spots for kids’ birthday parties, large family gatherings, or family reunions. Find out here how to rent a picnic pavilion.

Labyrinth
Through the efforts of Project Labyrinth, the construction of a permanent labyrinth has been approved for Fairhaven Park. It will be located at the very top of the park, above and behind the picnic shelter. It’s a secluded place for a meditative journey. The labyrinth will be 61 feet across, have 9 circuits, and be ADA accessible. Of course, the labyrinth will be free to use and have year-round access. As the website explains:

A temporary labyrinth in Fairhaven.

“A labyrinth is a pattern consisting of a circuitous path, usually within a circle, winding around and leading to the center and back out again. Labyrinths are used for walking meditation and as a path of prayer, and are found in many secular and religious traditions around the world….Walking a labyrinth is appropriate for people of all ages and abilities and beliefs.”

If you would like to support Project Labyrinth, please visit the Donation Page.

Further Information about Bellingham Parks

• Full list of park features.


• Bellingham trail maps.


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


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

Fairhaven Park
107 Chuckanut Drive
Bellingham, WA 98225

A Note About the Author: Ginger Oppenheimer

Ginger Oppenheimer has lived in Bellingham since 1983. She is an avid year-round trail runner and 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.