For a cool, shady respite on a hot day, head to the Padden Gorge Trail. It offers moss covered, old-growth evergreen trees and lush ferns along with the sights and sounds of the stream working it’s way down the gorge. Repaired after extensive flood damage last winter, this is much less traveled than the popular loop around Lake Padden. Easily accessed from the northwest side of the lake where Padden Creek begins its fall to Bellingham Bay, you can travel west on wooded trail for almost a mile and end just short of Interstate-5. Keep to the trail nearest the creek for the best views. By adding the newly built link between the south ends of 36th and 34th St. you can bypass the winding, no shoulder, no sidewalk road route from Lake Padden to Old Fairhaven Parkway.
Distance: Approx. 1 mile
http://www.cob.org/services/recreation/parks-trails/trail-guide.aspx
By, Genevie Roguski