The Padilla Bay Shore Trail is a 2.25 dike-top bicycle and pedestrian pathway. Padilla Bay and the neighboring Samish Bay to the north support one of the largest known wintering populations of Peregrine falcons in North America. All five species of falcon have been observed in the Padilla Bay area on the same day.
“The name Padilla – which means ‘breadpan’ in Spanish – was given to the bay by early Spanish explorers, although native people had long taken advantage of the natural abundance of food found here. One of the first features you see as you start your walk is an oft-photographed old barn with some rusting equipment lying about in the mud. This is a remnant of one of the so called ‘stump farms’, land purchased cheaply after the area was logged in the early 1900s then converted to farming.” – Washington Trails Association
A key to unlock the gate can be checked out from the Padilla Bay Interpretive Center making this trail wheelchair accessible.
How to Get There
Parking is available at both ends of the trail. However, the south-end parking area provides direct access to the trail while the north-end parking area is about 200 yards from the trail.
South-end: From Highway 20, turn north on Bayview Edison Road. After just under one mile you will see the trailhead parking lot on the left (west side of road). Click here for Google Map.
North-end: From Highway 20, travel north on Bayview Edison Road. After just over 3 miles turn onto Second St. for about 200 yards to the Skagit County Historical Society’s. After parking, you will walk back down Second Street and cross over Bayview Edison Road to the trailhead on the south side of the road. Click here for for Google Map.
Trail History
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.
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.
