Reviving Bay to Baker Trail

Bay to Baker Trail is a scenic recreational trail that – in theory – connects Bellingham Bay and the city to Mt. Baker and its foothill communities. The trail both highlights the natural beauty and diversity of the region, while also illustrating the local history of the area through its rails-to-trails conversions along the 74-mile route from the sea to the mountains.

There are, however, some major holes in this theory.

As it stands today, Bay to Baker trail is not complete. It never has been complete.

Segments of the promised trail do exist, with some existing for decades. But calling this trail “Bay to Baker” evokes a continuity that at the moment would be false, as any hiker or biker will have to take multiple detours avoiding busy highways, private property, and washed-out trails that once were.

Rebecca Boonstra has been executive director of the Mt. Baker Chamber of Commerce for 17 years, and walks the foothills trail system almost daily, but said the public is often confused because the trail that goes north from Maple Falls doesn’t link up with the trail that goes south from Glacier.

Both trails are part of the Bay to Baker Trail but serve only as local jaunts through the small foothill hamlets. A winter storm in 2015 washed out the trail near Warnick Bridge, and still the two trails remain
isolated.

“It would be fantastic to have those two pieces link up,” Boonstra said. “I know there’s a lot of signage on the trail that says ‘To Glacier’ and people get a little bit confused because it doesn’t go to Glacier.”

Recreation opportunities in the foothills are plentiful, but often come with a very brief window of availability, Boonstra said. Summer comes and goes quickly in the Pacific Northwest, and the winter ski season can be shortened with little warning.

Having a year-round (or close to it, snowfall be damned) trail system for residents and guests of the foothills to use would be a massive boon to the community, Boonstra said.

“A lot of time we tell folks to hike Horseshoe Bend, our only year-round trail, and they go, ‘We already did that,’” Boonstra said. “People would be really excited for that connection, and we would love to put people on that trail.”

Whatcom County government has known about the popularity of Bay to Baker for years and has made efforts to get the community involved in the planning process. In 2004, the county released the Mt. Baker Foothills chain of trails concept plan, a sprawling, multi-agency roadmap to building a safe, accessible network of non-motorized trails connecting the foothills with the city of Bellingham.

The plan identified 38 “missing link” miles that were still needed to complete the 260-mile network. In order to fully accomplish the goal of a nonstop Bay to Baker Trail, private land would need to be bought up by the right government agencies, and construction would need to begin. Behind that planning was the knowledge that this network would be built over decades. At the time, the Lynden Community Trail Connections Group dubbed the project a “One Hundred Year Dream Trail.”

“I think most folks slid it to the back of the bookshelf and it didn’t grow legs,” Boonstra said of the concept plan.

Two decades later, after various land purchases, easement agreements and more community outreach, the vision is closer, but not yet complete.

Most recently, the city of Bellingham purchased 116 acres of land along Mt. Baker Highway from the state Department of Natural Resources for $2.19 million in June 2024 with funding from the Greenways Levy. That purchase will connect northeast Bellingham parks with the Bay to Baker Trail, meaning the portion of the trail that runs through the city is inching closer and closer to completion.

Bennett Knox, director for Whatcom County Parks and Recreation, said the trail will take new sources of funding and labor, and said it’s a priority for the county to both increase tourism and recreation dollars, while also building trails that help the everyday residents of the Mt. Baker foothills region.

Boonstra agrees.

“I think it would be so much fun to walk the dogs up to Glacier and then grab breakfast at Wake ‘N’ Bakery, right?” Boonstra wondered aloud. “If there’s pancakes at the end, I say, let’s do it.”

The Whatcom County comprehensive plan mentions building adequate trails, and growing access for existing trails throughout the region as a top priority for parks and recreation. Knox specifically mentioned the missing links between Glacier and Maple Falls as a priority for the county, with a new position opening in the department for a multi-modal trail planner, with a specific focus on east county, Knox said.

“We hope to be able to fill that position by the end of this year,” Knox said. The fact that the parks department is optimistic towards hiring a trail planner amid a county-wide hiring freeze speaks to the urgency of the Bay to Baker Trail, he said.

“Part of the reason we’re excited about this position is [because] we’re trying to be more intentional about our community outreach,” Knox said. “We recognize that in order to implement Bay to Baker, it’s really going to take an effort to identify the needs, find additional sources of funding and tell the story of why this trail is important, not just as a recreational asset, but also as a multimodal asset to connect these communities.”

Knox said he hopes county parks can fulfill on the goals to better connect Bay to Baker, and then expand it so that more foothill communities can use the trail for safe, carbon-free transportation.

Bellingham’s Greenways Strategic Plan specifically recommends conducting property acquisitions like the June 2024 land purchase to continue to develop new parks and trails

“To do the entire chain of trails, Bay to Baker situation is huge,” Boonstra said. “It’s a project that will take decades if everything goes great. As time goes on, we’ll see how much dirt is actually going to move.”

Hopefully for the eager hikers and bikers of Whatcom County and beyond, there won’t be another two decades of waiting.   X