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Big Rock Garden

4.6 (18 reviews)

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Incredibly relaxing! The garden is well maintained and there is a lot of thought put into its design. Would highly recommend.

Masanori D.

Big Rock Garden is one of many parks managed by the city of Bellingham. It's actually a garden. It is open to the public (free of charge), but you cannot bring pets or bicycles inside. This is one of my favorite places in Bellingham. Big Rock Garden is a small garden, featuring a sculpture collection and plants native to Western Washington. While it's not a Japanese garden (except for some of the elements), the tranquility of the park feels very familiar to me. The garden is very well maintained, and it is easy to access. There's a small on-site parking lot (7 slots) right outside the gate. Also, there are bathrooms inside the garden. Because of all the tall trees, it's very cool even on a hot summer day. If you need a quiet place to take a stroll in, I highly recommend you to try Big Rock Garden. Recommended Access: When it's not raining, I love walking on the Klipsun trail to come up here. I park my car at Barkley Village and walk to the Klipsun trail via Railroad trail. See the following site for a detailed description of the route (https://www.bellingham.org/insider-blogs/an-urban-hike-barkley-village-to-big-rock-garden/). It's an uphill gravel trail going straight up Alabama Hill. A round trip is about 3.5 miles. ****************************** If you found something useful in my review, please hit "useful" so that I can improve my reviews. If you love food and traveling, follow me, or better yet, let's become friends on Yelp! Thank you and happy Yelping!

Sculptures at the park

This is such a nice park to discover, very serene and peaceful. The park is tucked up in a neighborhood with limited parking, but well worth finding.

Deer!
Kaliko P.

I asked about this park in the Tripadvisor forum as it wasn't listed here in Yelp; it was advised that I skip this place as it really didn't have a lot to offer, but I'm glad we decided to go as it wasn't very far from Whatcom Falls Park. This quaint garden sits in a residential neighborhood off the main strip. It's free too. The kids were absolutely thrilled to see deer in the parking lot; two of them! I know most locals think of the deer as pests but we were happy to see them. I was happy because the kids were happy. I couldn't care less about deer. The garden is small, so it's a nice place to reflect. There is a Korean Children's War Memorial pagoda here. Very touching story about the US Military helping the kids over there during the war. I didn't see a bathroom but we were not looking for it. Wish we had more time to spend here looking at all the cool sculptures and art pieces but we had a packed itinerary and had to get going. Definitely a place to stop by if you have a few minutes.

Karyn S.

This is a neat little park. I had heard about it and wanted to check it out. There are cool sculptures to see with pretty flowers and trees. I thought there would be more to it. It's worth checking out if you happen to be near by.

Guinnivere R.

Beautiful garden! I love how it's like a Japanese garden meets a sculpture garden meets a flower garden. You wouldn't think that would fit together but it actually fits together very well. I'm attaching my pictures because words are not enough to describe the gorgeousness and tranquility of this park.

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2 years ago

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3 years ago

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1 year ago

small, but cool to visit. If you are in Bellingham, you should definitely visit. it's not large enough to be a destination along though

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1 year ago

OMG this is one of my favorite places in Bellingham to meditate and pray. It's grounding, healing and my safe place.

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8 years ago

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Ask the Community - Big Rock Garden

Are the paths here wheelchair friendly?

The place isn't really setup that way. The paths here are mostly dirt, rocky, steep, and some have stones for steps. You could possibly access the upper part of the garden but not all of it. You'd need someone with great upper arm strength to get… Read more

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Review Highlights - Big Rock Garden

The park has a big fence door to keep out deer and other wildlife, so keep in mind to keep it closed on the way in and out.

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Bloedel Donovan Park - Paddle Boat

Bloedel Donovan Park

4.5(8 reviews)
0.6 mi

Our trip to Washington took a weird turn when our plans changed overnight. We pretty much were…read moreleft to do what ever we wanted rather than scheduled things with extended family. So we went to the lake. This lake was located right around the corner from our Airbnb. Its very easy to find and if you get here early enough there is lots of parking. We just brought our towels and swim suits and picked a spot on the grass near the sand. It was a very sunny day out in Washington. The kids headed right out and walked out to the floating decks. They were able to jump off and swim around. They had so much fun. We were here all day. They have a small snack shack with limited options. We got ice cream at some point. Then suddenly the kids and my husband decided that they wanted to take a paddle boat out into the lake. I had no interest. They had a good time. I personally thought it was too windy and at some point my husband had jump out and swim push the boat back to the shore. He made sure to let the people working that they should warn people that the wind may make it very hard to paddle back to shore. All in all it was a fantastic afternoon. The kids wanted to come back again but our trip was cut short and the time we did have didn't account for a second visit. Not sure we will ever be back again but we would if we could.

A nice park with summing available in the summer months. Playground for kids is fun, though we did…read moresee a child fall off of the slippery climbing structure, so keep a close eye on that side. The park is large with much space to run and play, explore and enjoy. Buildings (pavilions, basketball court/gym) are available on the grounds for private rental, and plenty of parking can be found on the property. (On hot summer weekends, parking does fill up quickly.)

Photos
Bloedel Donovan Park - Boat rental shack

Boat rental shack

Bloedel Donovan Park
Bloedel Donovan Park - View across Lake Whatcom

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View across Lake Whatcom

Cornwall Park - Main drive in, looking in the direction of the entrance.

Cornwall Park

4.1(11 reviews)
2.9 mi

Pulling into a parking spot in one of the parking areas in Cornwall Park in Bellingham this…read moremorning, Wednesday 20 September 2023, I noticed a gray squirrel burying something. Trying to get my camera out in time while still in my car, I got one blurry picture before it scurried off. Grabbing my bag and getting out of my car, I noticed something new to me, a black squirrel. It was on the ground foraging. I took a few pictures and a video and then said hello out loud. It came to attention and started making its way towards me. Eventually, it came to sit on a curb by my car and looked at me, letting me take an up-close picture. After the click it continued on. Exploring the park on foot, I found walkers, runners, foraging gray squirrels, and foraging black squirrels. Walking paths through the trees were gravel and relatively flat near the parking area. Gray squirrels towards the entrance of the park were shelling felled chestnuts and carrying them away. A black squirrel or two ran past with a peanut, not sure from where. Sunlight broke through the canopy of the trees, lighting up the leaves and spots of ground.

I love all the little hidden parks in Bellingham, but Cornwall takes the cake. You don't realize…read morehow expansive this park is until you're in it. There are several different entrances into the park from all surrounding streets. The trails connect all the entrances, but the roads do not connect though. Cornwall park has pickleball courts, tennis courts, basketball courts, frisbee golf, a wading fountain, fields to play in, trails to run on AND MORE! Every time I walk my dogs here, I find new trails and features I haven't seen before. It is well maintained and has a ton of parking within the park so you don't have to walk far. I would recommend pulling up a map if you are looking to get to a specific part of the park for the first time!

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Cornwall Park - Park entrance, morning of Wednesday 20 September 2023.

Park entrance, morning of Wednesday 20 September 2023.

Cornwall Park - Gravel walkway and parking area.

Gravel walkway and parking area.

Cornwall Park - Friendly black squirrel looking at me, Wednesday 20 September 2023.

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Friendly black squirrel looking at me, Wednesday 20 September 2023.

Big Rock Garden - parks - Updated May 2026

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