It was a gorgeous day, so we decided to head out with the kids. Looking for something we hadn’t done before, we picked Big Rock Garden as our destination.
We passed it the first time, not quite seeing the park entrance sign as it’s off of a residential road and the park itself is tucked back in the trees. Once we got back to it, however, we found the little parking lot and headed in.
The kids enjoyed running around the paths of the garden and checking out the art. They liked standing in the gazebo and yelling to hear their voices echo, poking their faces through the sculptures with open spaces the little faces could fit through, and running along the deck that allows you to enjoy the view of Lake Whatcom.
Once we made a few passes through the garden, we decided to check out the trail system to the east and saw signs for Silver Beach. We followed a well-groomed path with very small hills through the trees and kept along the Silver Beach path, which led us right to Silver Beach Elementary school. There were some families and people with dogs in the field, a man and his kids playing basketball and a toddler with her parents at the playground.
My kids made a mad dash for the playground as we emerged from the woods into the clearing, and my boys really liked the “spider web” climbing structure. We spent a good half hour playing and climbing before we decided to head back along the trail to our car.
It made for a great mini-adventure on a beautiful day and it’s one I’m sure we will do again soon! If you’re interested in where we were, the City of Bellingham Parks and Recreation Trail Guide has a map (9a) that you can view here: http://www.cob.org/documents/parks/parks-trails/trail-guide/railroad.pdf
