This trail is an urban treasure. I walked the dogs around the lake this morning. There is an off leash area for dogs at one end of the lake. Leashes are required everywhere else and people are pretty good about following the rules. There have been vehicle break ins here and there was a shooting several weeks ago. The park rangers have been more visible recently which is nice. There are often people fishing on the lake early in the morning. 

We hiked around the lake which was ~2.5 miles.  Very easy hike suitable for beginners. It's mostly flat with lots of tree cover as well.  There were a lot of people in the parks and the atmosphere was very lively.

Ventured to Bellingham to check out Lake Padden Park. We did both the single track around Lake Padden and the additional backcountry hikes rounding us out around 6.5 miles. This was one of the most well maintained trails I have ever been on. The single track around Lake Padden is made of a gravel footpath while the backcountry is roots and rocks as expected. I was SHOCKED by the elevation gain in the backcountry and would rate it moderate. The trail was very well shaded and even though there were a lot of people there for a Thursday afternoon we hardly ran into anyone.

Something that I LOVED that didn’t see until the end of the trail was the Habitat Walk QR code. The Lake Padden single track is an amazing trail for kids, there’s even a playground and many chances to use the facilities.

Give me two hours I'll find something to do. We took the trail on the west side of the lake from the parking lot nearest 40th and Wilkin St. counterclockwise. This took us to the dock and dam where the outlet stream flows. This is the beginning of the Padden Creek Gorge Trail which was our goal today.

This is a wide trail through a beautiful forest of old growth trees and tumbling waterfalls. The gorge walls and hillsides are covered in emerald green moss and dripping ferns. We stopped along the way to climb steps, reaching a dirt side path going right, to find a geocache which was our other goal. The returning loop portion is high above the creek as it drops down significantly near where the trail splits. There was an interesting array of trinkets, seashells, and other odds and ends that I'm sure is to memorialize someone? Another geocache is located nearer the creek and there's a trail that leads down but it's steep and my daughter wasn't game.

We also had an interesting encounter with two groups of Western Washington students who were electro fishing.  They stun the fish and net them, document them by breed and size, and report it to Washington State Fish and Games.

I don’t know how I missed the forecast for wind. It’s not my favorite hiking weather but it turned out ok. It was my first time on this trail and it looks like there’s much more exploring to do. 
There is a fenced dog park and part of the park is labeled as an off leash hiking area. There is also a playground, boat ramp, tennis courts, horse trailer parking, multiple bathrooms and lots of good signage. I did the loop around the lake and only saw a few other people. 
I enjoyed the big trees, bald eagle, swallows, ducks and warm sun in between wind gusts.