Heading out to walk this popular Lake Whatcom trail? This is why you’ll have to wait
The popular Hertz Trail along Lake Whatcom has been closed a little more than a mile in because of a landslide, the Whatcom County Parks and Recreation Department said on Wednesday, Jan. 20.
The trail at Lake Whatcom Park was closed near the 1.25-mile marker after rocks and trees fell onto the path from Stewart Mountain. A visitor contacted Parks officials about the slide on Wednesday.
Hertz Trail is at the base of the mountain.
“It’s in an area of unstable slopes,” Christ Thomsen, parks operation manager, said to The Bellingham Herald.
The parks department is assessing the damage and will begin cleanup in the coming days, possibly early next week, Thomsen said.
Thomsen said a geologist will be brought in for the assessment, but it appears that rocks fractured, gave way and then fell.
People are being warned against crossing the slide because of safety concerns.
The trail near Bellingham is 3.1 miles each way.
On sunny, warm days, it is usually packed with walkers, runners and bicyclists.
When open, the trail offers a little bit of everything — a short walk through lush forest before opening to lovely views of Lake Whatcom and Lookout Mountain — as well as sandstone cliffs, some large Douglas firs and two small creeks with scenic waterfalls (depending on the time of the year).
