Padilla Bay Shore Trail

Padilla Bay Slide Show

Padilla Bay 5-frame slide show

Padilla Bay Shore Trail is a 2.25 dike top bicycle and pedestrian pathway. The estuary of the Skagit River is the most diverse, least disturbed and most biologically productive of all major estuaries on Puget Sound. Padilla and Samish Bay support one of the largest known wintering populations of peregrine falcons in North America, including one endangered subspecies. Ten types of raptors winter in the western portion of the County: some species include the peregrine, merlins, and snowy owls. It is reported that all five species of falcon have been observed in the Padilla Bay area on the same day.

Click on the thumbnail to view an 800X600 satellite photo of Padilla Bay Shore Trail. This file is BIG (197 KB).

In 1989, the Skagit County Parks and Recreation Department and the Department of Ecology (Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve) began discussion of a 2.25-mile dike top trail along the southeastern shore of Padilla Bay. Planning and construction grants were obtained from the Aquatic Lands Enhancement Account (Department of Natural Resources), Skagit County Pathway Funds, and Ecology/N.O.A.A. Section 315 Funds. Many discussions took place between the following concerning the use of this trail:

Diking District N0. 8 Commissioners

Skagit County Commissioners

Department of Wildlife

U.S. Fish Wildlife Service

In 1990 the Padilla Bay Trail was opened. Dike District 8, the Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Skagit County Parks and Recreation Department used grants from the Department of Natural Resources, funds from the Breazeale-Padilla Bay Interpretive Center fund and other state money to build the $149,000 trail.