Work to remove iconic Interstate 5 boulder south of Bellingham will begin Monday
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Bellingham’s I-5 graffiti rock
Articles from The Bellingham Herald about the iconic boulder and relocation efforts.
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A massive boulder along northbound Interstate 5 south of Bellingham, long painted with slogans as a conversation piece and community message board, will be removed soon and possibly relocated to a public site in Whatcom County, state transportation officials announced Thursday evening.
Work is scheduled to start Monday as part of a process that is expected to take several days and possibly weeks, Washington State Department of Transportation spokesman Dave Rasbach told The Bellingham Herald in a phone call.
WSDOT must move the 100-ton rock because it’s in the way of a $160 million project to widen three salmon-bearing streams under the freeway along a 6-mile stretch of road in Whatcom and Skagit counties.
Keith Cook of Bellingham, who manages the Bellingham Rock page on Facebook, is asking anyone with photos of the rock to share them on Facebook as a final tribute to the rock’s nearly 60-year saga.
To Cook, the rock isn’t just another roadside attraction.
“It’s a sad day in Whatcom County,” Cook told The Herald in a phone call. “It’s been there for more than 50 years. It’s been painted once a week. That’s 2,600 stories out there. I just hope that this isn’t the last chapter in the storybook,” Cook said.
Standing about 8 feet high, the massive boulder was blasted out of the surrounding Chuckanut sandstone when I-5 was built in 1966. It sits on the right shoulder of northbound I-5 just north of the Samish Way exit.
In 1969, a summer resident of Lake Samish painted its first tag — “Sealth ’70,” a tribute to his Seattle high school graduating class, according to previous Herald reporting.
In January, it was painted to say “Go Hawks!” in Seattle Seahawks colors, along with the number 12. Its last message was an annual memorial to Jim Robinson and Braden Talbott Lindholdt, both 20, who disappeared while kayaking at Larrabee State Park on March 11, 2001.
In between, the rock has been painted with graffiti and messages aimed at lovers, relatives who have died, high school graduates and hundreds of pithy, amusing and sometimes hateful phrases.
It’s become a sure sign of home to Bellingham residents.
In an interview with The Herald and Seattle’s King-5 TV at the rock on Friday, Cook used a prying tool to carve a frying pan-sized piece of paint off the rock’s surface.
“Look at the layers. That’s the rock right there. There’s a rock under there,” Cook said.
Then Cook and others who’d arrived for a farewell look at the rock signed their names on it.
Rasbach said the rock could be moved to a new location, or it might be broken into pieces and given to anyone who wants one.
“There is a contract in place to tentatively relocate the rock to private land where the owner has agreed to allow public access. Alternative plans are also in place in the event the landowner decides against taking possession of the rock,” Rasbach said in an emailed statement. “Small tools will be used to chip paint from the rock, and specialized chemicals may be used to dissolve remaining layers. Soil ranging from 6 inches to 2 feet deep will be removed from around the rock to address contaminants such as lead and cadmium. Once the paint is removed, crews will break the rock into smaller pieces by drilling holes and using expansive grout to slowly create cracks. This process will be repeated several times before pieces are loaded onto trucks and removed from the site. No explosives will be used.”
Rasbach said the person who was expressed interest in displaying the rock will inspect it after it is removed and then decide whether to keep it.
“If accepted, WSDOT will deliver the rock to the agreed-upon location, and the property owner will assume responsibility for its long-term care. Details about public access at that location will be determined and shared by the property owner,” Rasbach said. “If the property owner elects not to take possession of the rock, WSDOT will develop a process to distribute a limited number of pieces to interested members of the public. Additional details would be shared following removal.”
Two Bellingham-area residents have told The Herald that they would like to be able to display the rock.
This story was originally published April 17, 2026 at 1:03 PM.
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