Tennant Lake and Hovander Homestead Trails

The park at Hovander Homestead Park provides both hiking and historical opportunities. Created to preserve the history of pioneer farming in the area, the park and Tennant Lake, together with the nearby Nooksack Wildlife Area offer nearly 7 miles of flat wheelchair-friendly hiking on graveled or packed dirt trail.

From the parking are at Hovander House, visitors can set out east towards the barn and restrooms for a quick look at the homstead before heading to the Tennant Lake Interpretive center, highly recommended as it includes a garden and trail developed for low-sight individuals. That means the garden is full of lovely fragrant flowers and the interpretive signs include Braille.

Leaving the Fragrance Garden, you can continue heading east toward the Boardwalk trail, which loops south and east, making a 0.7 mile lollipop loop on Tennant Lake.

Once you're done there, you can retrace your path to the boat launch, where you can turn south, and after 0.3 miles arrive at a junction. Here, turning left would take you 0.3 miles to the edge of the park boundary and into the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Nooksack Unit. A raised trail in this area makes for a lovely wander if you have time.

But if you want to stay closer to the homestead, turn a sharp right, wandering along the Nooksack River for 0.6 miles. This section takes you around the back of the former homestead before arriving at a junction where you can either turn right and head back to the parking area, or continue another full mile to the offleash dog park at the north end of the park.

WTA Pro Tip: The Hovander Homestead and Tennant Lake parking lot are free, but the parking area near the off-leash dog park require a Discover Pass.