Galbraith Mountain

This park outside the city of Bellingham has 65 miles of trails that are popular with hikers, and are now nationally recognized as a mountain biking destination. This vast network of trails sits between Lake Samish and Lake Whatcom and borders the 4,250-acre Whatcom County Park Lookout Mountain Forest Preserve. With 1,785 feet of elevation gain from the high points in the park, visitors can appreciate views of Mount Baker, the San Juan Islands, Bellingham and surrounding area and other peaks.

As a hiker you will be sharing the trail with mountain bikers, so be sure to brush up on who has the right-of-way. The Whatcom Mountain Biking Coalition maintains the trails here and has a great interactive map, showing all the miles of trails. Because of the quantity of trails, the mountain can handle hundreds of hikers, runners, horse riders and bikers without users feeling like the area is busy. But do note this capacity means parking lots can fill up on weekends.

If this park wasn't enough, it connects with Lake Padden Park, Whatcom Falls Park and Lookout Mountain Forest Preserve for more miles of trails than anyone could hope to explore. 

Note on Access: In 2018, the City of Bellingham, Whatcom Land Trust and Galbraith Tree Farm LLC entered into an agreement that secured the public's recreational use of 2,182 acres of second growth forest on Galbraith Mountain in perpetuity.