Trip Reports

Turned out to be a beatiful day but a little too windy for my kids. It was a great trail for taking my son out in the stroller and I was lucky to have someone help me lift my stoller over the gate so we could get to the trail. It wasn't hard at all but If you have a stoller then you might need to either have someone help you over or fold the stroller up so you can get through. Once the weather gets warmer we'll will definitly be going here again :)

Nice, easy hike. It was cloudy and misty - probably would have been prettier on a sunny day, but still enjoyable. Saw a few herons, bald eagles, and lots of ducks.

An easy and rewarding walk along the shore of Padilla Bay. Birds are everywhere along this trail, whether on the water or in the adjacent fields. Be sure to keep an eye on the drainage dicth at the edge of the fields, because it's a favorite feeding spot for great blue herons.
Despite the muddy, saturated fields, this gravel trail makes for dry walking. My car got muddier than my boots did.
Washington Discover pass required.

We drove up to Padilla Bay from Seattle and lucked out with some beautiful sunny weather. The trail was gorgeous, and became more heavily populated throughout the day. There are port-a-potties at the beginning of the trail and at the end of the trail, and they are very well maintained.

This is a flat trail that goes around the edge of the bay. We didn't see much wildlife beyond seagulls and ducks until we were returning and spotted a Giant Blue Heron. It was spectacular.

Lots of families hiking the trail with little children. Highly recommended easy hike.

Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve's Breazeale Interpretive Center is 0.5 miles from Bayview SP. This is a worthwhile stop if you are in the area. We did the 0.8 Upland Trail today in fog so Mt Baker was not in view at the top. This trail begins from behind the interpretive center and passes through meadow and forest habitat. Today sections of the trail had ice, but you could walk around the icy areas.

After setting up camp at Bayview SP, we hiked the 2.25 Padilla Bay Trail starting at the South end. Many hikers and runners were enjoying the beautiful but cold day. It was 3 hours after high tide so most of the birds were in the distance. We saw heron, teal, and eagles.

Eagles, herons and hawks! Oh My, but no snowy owls. We were hoping to get lucky. The tide was way in, so none of the mudflats were exposed. We saw a few female buffleheads, and grebes. Lots of herons, a pair of eagles and a hawk. Small birds were hanging out in the bushes and on seedheads. Snow geese are back on the flats, but were not visible from here. A nice walk along the bay, and good for a bad weather day.

 First time I hiked this, started out at 9:30am. Easy level trail that follows sloughs to Padilla Bay. Saw plenty of wildlife and great views. Because of the weather in the higher elevations I have been trying out these type of hikes. I must say that with the wind blowing off the bay and the freezing temperatures and didn't matter if I was at sea level or up in the mountains. A great day for a hike all the same and enjoyed the views and the wildlife. This is a great hike any time of the year.

  The King-5 weather report called for partial sunshine in north part of Pudget Sound so I head over to Padilla Bay to hike The Padilla Bay Shore Trail as part of my hike #47 this year. This portion of the trail is also known as part of the Pacific Northwest Trail. This trail is off Bayview Edison Road near Highway 20 which runs between the cities of Antacortes and Burlington.
  This trail is 2 1/8 miles one way and since you have to park at one end or the other it becomes 4 1/4 miles. The best place to park is at the south end along Bay Edison Road which is the first parking area you come to. You will see the other cars parked there among the farmland. This trail is hiked on top of a dike which was built to control the tide waters of Padilla Bay and the watershed run off from the surrounding farmland.
  This is a very flat trail which starts off in farmland on one side and the Little Indian Slough on the other side. As you hike along this trail be sure to look for Blue Heron and migratory birds that stop here on their way up and down the Pacific Migratory Cooridor between Baja California and Alaska. This is a good trail for jogging, biking, family hike and just observing nature at Padilla Bay. Be sure to check tide tables and hike this trail when the tides up so the birds will be closer to shore/trail for some good picture taking. Checkout the videos of this hike on my youtube channel "lmm3181" of click on these direct link for this hike.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksWDVdgzIhc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMnUIZP5W00

As always get out and see this beautiful state and enjoy your hiking!
Take Care
Mike

All this sun is making me so happy! Such a beautiful day--almost perfect, except for the wind. So much wind that bikers were almost going slower than hikers! Which made for a bit of an embarrassing moment...read about it on my blog. :)
http://kellbell-whywouldany[…]adilla-bay-shore-trail.html

A cold and windy day, but no rain and no snow! No snowy owls either, but we were not really expecting to see any. Lots of blue herons and 3 juvenile bald eagles and one mature one. A new bird, looks like a northern shrike, about the right size with the distictive beak. Apparantly they are found in this area in winter. Better birders would know for sure. Tide out, and nice views of clouds and Chuckanut Mtn.s.

We began our hike on this cloudy and sometimes windy day at the south TH where there is a small parking area. There are trail markers every 1/8 mile for this 2 1/8 mile walk--4 1/4 RT if you start at the south TH. The tide was low. It seemed as if someone had "pulled the plug"! We saw 4 herons, 5 sand pipers, and 2 eagles! We will have to return another day to view the profuse birdlife and views of surrounding mountains described in Craig Romano's "Day Hiking North Cascades"! Having read raringtohike's 1-15-12 report with its beautiful photos, we know one can see birds if you're there at the right time! Sunday we went to the Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve's Breazeale Interpretive Center which is about 1.5 miles north of the North TH near Bay View SP where we had camped Friday and Saturday nights. This educational facility is well worth your time when you are in the area. This time of year it is open 10-5 Wednesday through Sunday.

Awoke to about an inch of snow this morning and wanting to get out for a walk, we drove to Padilla Bay about 9 am. We were the first people to create footprints in the freshly fallen snow. The air was crisp and cold but calm, creating perfect reflections in the channel. And since it was high tide, the shore birds hung close to the trail making them easier to photograph. The dunlins flocked on the trail, but swooshed around us as we slowly approached, heading north past the barn area. We paused and just watched them for quite a while. They were amazing. We saw many other birds/ducks also and observed rabbit and dog (coyote?) tracks crisscrossing the trail. By the time we left, 3 other groups were out walking the trail as well as one hunter and his dog.

Here’s a link to a video we took of the Dunlins: http://youtu.be/hIOpbCnx2Bc

This is a great stroll along the bay with lots of wildlife to see. The gravel trail is nice and wide with plenty of room to share with bikes, dogs and joggers. The elevated dike keeps the trail dry and in good shape.

We started at the north trailhead and walked south to the old picturesque barn. There were a handful of blue herons out as well as mallard and pintail ducks. On the way home we drove south on Fir Island Rd and saw some large flocks of snow geese.

Walk off the cookies with your Christmas company on this easy trail. This is a path of small delights instead of grand vistas. There are nice views too, if you can overlook the Anacordes refinery. The day was clear and cold, Baker and the North Cascades visible in the distance. The path takes off along the bay and is quite flat, even the out of shape can walk this one. Frosty seedheads, rosehips, ducks and water made this photo fun. We also saw three herons, a hawk and an eagle.A nice winter walk.

The Padilla Bay Shore Trail is a wide, flat, multi-use trail. There are several interesting features along the way, including great views of the bay and islands, plenty of birds and butterflies to watch, a picturesque old barn, and some distant views of Mount Baker.

There is no shade along the trail, so remember sunscreen and water!

A gorgeous day at Padilla Bay. This was hike 17 of 50 planned this year. This trail is 5 miles round trip with no elevation gain. The trail is located on top of a dirt dike that was built to hold back the sea water for farming in the Skagit Valley of Washington State. The trail is in excellent condition from beginning to end. Bicycles and wheelchair accessible. If you use a wheelchair at the North end of the trail near the town of Bay View please go to the Padilla Bay Interpretive Center to get the key to let in a wheel chair. Its located on the right side of Bow Edison Road about 1/8 mile past the north end of the trail. I believe you can get a wheelchair thru the south end without a problem. Parking at the south end is better since there is usually lots of parking. The views of Padilla Bay and the San Juan Islands are spectacular. Take a light coat even in warm weather because the breeze from the ocean can be a little nippy. Lots of nice benches along the trail to sit and relax and soak up the views. Check out a video of this hike or lots of other hikes I have done in Washington State on my youtube channel at lmm3181. Here is a direct video link to this hike. It is safe to click on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpwUUwgHCMA
Enjoy your hiking!!! Mike