The Sehome Hill Arboretum (or, 'the arb,' as people call it on campus) is quite literally in my back yard. The arboretum features dozens of miles of light hiking trails - most on the west side of Arboretum Drive are mapped out, but there's a whole bunch of others on the east side that aren't mapped. The lower west side trails are frequently used by students as a means of getting to class, and as a hideout for smoking - try the east side ones for a bit more solitude. While not the most exciting hiking spot, the arb is a great place for locals to get a bit of exercise, walk the dogs, and take young ones exploring. You'll find all sorts of man-made treasures in the woods, like cute little bird houses or tiny mirror art. To no avail, I spent about 2 hours today searching for a supposedly-hidden rope swing somewhere deep in the trees.

Walked the Sehome Arboretum trails Monday morning. We actually started down by the bay at Taylor Dock and walked up Taylor Ave to get to the WWU campus and then onto the arboretum trails. Total distance including the walk over was about 5 miles with total net vertical of a little over 600’. There are a few larger blow down but nothing impassable. The fog cleared just as we were getting to the top and the views from the tower both north to Mt. Baker and west over Bellingham were spectacular. Don’t miss the old Huntoon Road tunnel near the top of the hill, (who puts a tunnel on the top of a hill?) You can walk right through and over the ridge above it. If the views from the tower don’t float your boat, you can walk back down through WWU and take in the many sculpture art throughout the campus.

A beautiful, easy hike! The trees are starting to blossom and the view is currently great from the tower. A little mud on the trails, but not dangerously so.

We've walked the Sehome Arboretum to the Lookout Tower before, entering near Fairhaven College but this time we parked at the trailhead off Bill McDonald Parkway and took the Douglas Fir Trail which is a smaller dirt trail. We wanted to go through the tunnel which was carved out of sandstone in 1923 for visitors but missed the turn at the Communications Tower and ended up on Tunnel Ridge trail which exited the arboretum on Liberty St. on the north side. We walked a couple blocks east and entered the arboretum again at the Jersey St. Trail and found our way to the Observation Tower. Round trip, we logged 3 miles, but you could easily double that if you explored the many small trails in this little urban wilderness. The City of Bellingham has a nice map of the trails on their website. (Link below).

Rambled around the Sehome Hill Arboretum Saturday morning as part of a larger loop up from Fairhaven, through the arboretum and back around along the South Bay Trail. It is a nice bit of second growth forest just east of the Western Washington University campus. Also not to miss are the spectacular views from the observation tower and a peek through the tunnel. Main parking/access is from the south right as you turn into the WWU campus, but there are many other trails that crisscross and provide access from the north end as well. A nice loop through the arboretum is a little over 2 miles, but you can add more distance, (and water views,) by dropping off the hill to the west at Fairhaven or Bellingham down to the South Bay trail. Link to info and map of the arboretum - http://www.cob.org/services/recreation/parks-trails/sehome-arboretum.aspx