Opinion - Whatcom View

POSTED: Saturday, May. 30, 2009

New Point Whitehorn park a great experience

The Point Whitehorn Marine Reserve combines what is best about living in Whatcom County.

Opened by the Whatcom County Parks & Recreation department earlier this week,, the 54-acre park includes a trail through a wetland forest and a rocky beach with spectacular views of the San Juan Islands and the Strait of Georgia.

I happened across the site on Memorial Day. The park is just west of the BP Cherry Point oil refinery and between BP's oil docks and Point Whitehorn on the beach. After spending part of the afternoon at a plant research site nearby, my companion and I decided to drive out to the Cherry Point area. I had forgotten that Memorial Day was opening day of the reserve, and came across the new parking lot and signage just as officials with the Whatcom Land Trust and the Whatcom County Parks Department were taking down the equipment from their official dedication.

I had a chance to briefly talk with county parks director Mike McFarlane and got some assistance from staff members after I made the mistake of driving my truck off the gravel entrance road to let someone pass and ended up stuck in some deep mud.

That inauspicious arrival was soon forgotten, though, when I was able to get on the trail. We were surrounded by a lush green of ferns and evergreens and many more plants that kept my botanist friend busy exploring and identifying.

There are four overlooks built off the trail once the path nears the bluff above the beach. The trail and the overlooks are all ADA accessible. The last section, a couple of switchbacks and a steep staircase down the bluff to the beach, are not.

The views from the overlooks are spectacular and so is the beach, with more than 1,900 feet available for public exploration between privately owned beaches to the north and south. You can watch birds fly and boats sail toward Matia, Sucia and other San Juan Islands, or watch oil tankers unload at the dock for the nearby Cherry Point oil refinery. The saltwater off shore is part of the Cherry Point Aquatic Reserve, an area designated for marine protection by state officials.

I have been featured on local access TV a bit lately as part of the interviews marking the 10-year anniversary of the Olympic Pipe Line Co. pipeline rupture, explosion and fire. In the part of the interview they are airing, I talk a bit about how important it is not to forget pipeline safety.

In another part of the conversation, which didn't make it through editing, the interviewer asked about whether I could think of any positives at all that came as a result of the explosion. I told him I found it hard to find a silver lining in any event that killed three young people.

I can amend that comment slightly and say that the Point Whitehorn Marine Reserve is one positive thing that happened after the pipeline rupture. The area was acquired by the Whatcom Land Trust using $1 million from the state Department of Ecology. The department received that money as part of the fines levied on the pipeline operator.

The Land Trust developed the reserve and then Whatcom County purchased it using money from the dedicated Conservation Futures Fund. And the county parks department is maintaining and operating the park.

I'd recommend every Whatcom County resident make the trek to the site at some point. It's rare to find a long beach in our area with such great public access and with such remarkable views.

Scott Ayers is opinion editor at The Bellingham Herald.

IF YOU GO

To get to the new Point Whitehorn Marine Reserve drive west on Grandview Road all the way to its terminus, where it turns left and turns into Koehn Road. The parking lot is a half-mile south on Koehn Road, on the left. The park is accessible sunup to sundown daily.

ONLINE

Photos of the park, including the trail, vegetation, beach and views, are available at TheBellinghamHerald.com/photos