Amenities & Features
- Limited parking
- Foot and Bike access from Interurban Trail
- Beach
- Dramatic, wave-eroded headlands
- Ecologically intact estuary (brackish and fresh water marshes and tide flats)
- Excellent site for birding, wildlife, shoreline geology and botanical observation
- Car-top/hand-carry boat launching (when tides are at 6+ feet)
- Shellfish gathering as allowed with a State permit and Health regulations
Hours
6:00 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
Directions
The Chuckanut Bay Shorelands lie in the South and Edgemoor Neighborhoods of Bellingham. Turn west off Chuckanut Drive (SR11) at 21st Street behind the Chuckanut Bay Art and Sculpture Gallery and then immediately turn west (right) on Fairhaven Avenue. Proceed straight to the shoreline of the bay. Please observe parking and use signs. Walkers and bikers can reach the entrance at 21st Street from the Interurban Trail using Lake Samish Road and Chuckanut Drive.
Events
Before using or reserving park facilities, please review the high-impact events below for information on how they may affect your planned activities.
Projects
Recent projects at the Chuckanut Bay Shorelands.
Photographs
More Information
Northeast Chuckanut Bay is Bellingham’s richest and most biologically diverse estuary. Birds and other wildlife are easily disturbed by human activity, especially when gathering during migration or roosting along the shore. Please avoid walking on the mudflats and marshes and limit your travel to improved roads and trails and upper beach areas. The tidal basin is also known as “Mud Bay” after a navigational description used on some charts and maps.
Shellfish gathering is ONLY allowed under Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife permitting regulations and ONLY when the area is open under the authority of Health Officials.
For more information about this park contact the Parks & Recreation Main Office.
