TIMBER MANAGEMENT & RECREATION ON GALBRAITH MOUNTAIN
Basic Stats and Facts
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Galbraith Tree Farm (GTF) owns 2,240 acres on Galbraith which was purchased from Polygon 05, LLC in 2017.
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Polygon continues to own ~650 acres on Galbraith.
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The City of Bellingham (COB) purchased a recreation & conservation easement in 2018 from GTF for three million dollars (Whatcom Land Trust paid $250k) that covers the Janicki-owned property on Galbraith Mountain. The recreation easement guarantees public access into perpetuity regardless of who owns this property.
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The recreation easement does not have restrictions regarding timber management activities. Timber operations are permitted and regulated via the Department of Natural Resources, not the COB.
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WMBC has a license agreement with the COB as the Galbraith Trail Manager.
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In 2024, the WMBC received approval to build an additional 20 miles of trails on Galbraith - which will be 85 miles total on the GTF property.
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Under Janicki's management and ownership of Galbraith, the following trails have been constructed: Dad Bod, Happy Hour, High Life, Vitamin R, Space Wolf, Here to There, Das Autobahn, Irish Death, Huff and Puff, Upper/Lower Devilcross, Happy Devil, Cedar Dust Skills Area, Mohawk, Alt SST, Air Chair, Blue Steel, Double Vision, Stinky Dualuxe, and Blue Ribbon. In addition, there are two hand-built trails in the process of construction in 2024.
Questions regarding Galbraith's timber management activities can be directed to Janicki Logging via: janickilogging.com/contact
INTRODUCTION
Galbraith mountain is a world class mountain destination located within riding distance of downtown Bellingham. Over 70 miles of singletrack that winds through 3,000 acres overlooking the city and Bellingham Bay. The mountain is accessible to all non-motorized use; all of the trails are built and maintained by the WMBC and our trail sponsors. Because of the quantity of trails, the mountain can handle the e-bikers, hikers, trail runnners, horse riders, and bikers that recreate there during the course of the day without trail users feeling like the trails are busy!
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WMBC has two options for maps of Galbraith. You can purchase a waterproof paper Galbraith Printed Map or you can download our interactive PDF map that works with your phone GPS to show you exactly where you are on the map. A portion of the sales of both maps goes directly to the WMBC to help maintain and build new trails on Galbraith.
HISTORY
The mountain is currently owned by a private landowner so we are guests on the mountain. WMBC has over 30 years of history stewarding the mountain to keep it open and growing while working with various landowners. With the Galbraith Easement secured, recreation access is guaranteed forever. There is a great deal of costs involved in keeping the mountain open including insurance and trail maintenance so we ask that if you love riding Galbraith trails to please donate to the WMBC or join a volunteer trail day to support the upkeep and management of the trails on the mountain.
CAMPING & LODGING
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The Heliotrope is located less than a mile from Bellingham's downtown core and nearby nature. They offer bike storage and a bike washing station, boot driers, and comfortable spaces to relax before and after excursions.
Set on the seaward side of Chuckanut Mountain near Bellingham, Larrabee State Park is known for its postcard views of Samish Bay and the San Juan Islands.
Birch Bay State Park is a 664-acre camping park with 8,255 feet of saltwater shoreline on Birch Bay and 14,923 feet of freshwater shoreline on Terrell Creek. The Terrell Creek Marsh is one of the few remaining saltwater/freshwater estuaries in north Puget Sound. A natural game sanctuary sits at the park's north end.
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HOW TO GET THERE
There are two main points to access Galbraith, the northside or the southside.
Northside The northside accesses the mountain at Birch St. from downtown Bellingham off of Lakeway Dr. with a parking lot and on-street parking. Please consider parking in Whatcom Falls Park and riding the short distance to the entrance to avoid crowding. The Miranda trail gets you onto the mountain and from there you can access a number of trails options.
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Southside The southside is accessed via Samish Way with a brand new parking lot directly across the street from Galbraith Lane road. Park here or at the Lake Padden parking area near the dog park. When you go up Galbraith Lane, go straight towards the pipeline road and through the yellow gate. You will access trails like Last Call, New Issues, and Lost Giants.
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Southside Parking Lot Our generous and supportive community raised the monumental funds of $606k needed to renovate and enlarge this much-used parking lot in 2022. The new lot has 180+ parking stalls, horse trailer parking, bathrooms, and a turn-around zone for youth drop-off. This lot is now manage by the City of Bellingham, please direct your questions and concerns to them moving forward.
A huge thank you to the Rotary Club of Bellingham for kickstarting our capital campaign for the parking lot expansion with their donation of $86,000! And another thank you to Recreation Northwest who connected us with an anonymous donor and presented us with a $100,000 check for this parking lot project.​
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If you're wondering why the WMBC took on the parking lot project, read more about the Galbraith Easement. More details in Cascadia Daily New's article.​
THE TRAILS
Galbraith has the perfect topography to create a huge network of trails with varying skill levels. Trails vary from fast and flowy XC trails to directional jump lines for advanced riders. No matter what skill level you are, Galbraith has a trail that will put a smile on your face. The mountain has two access points, the north and the south entrances. The mountain features trail kiosks at both entrances with maps but since there are so many trail options we highly recommend using the TrailForks app to navigate.
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Southside Suggested Rides
Downhill: Dogpatch - Tower Road - Evolution - U-line - Atomic dog - Gate & Switch
XC: Lost Giants - Mole Trap - Rock n Roll - Bandito - Pony Express - The Pigs - Kaiser - Lower Mulltet - 911 - Lone Wolf - Lost Giants
Northside Suggested Rides
Downhill: Up to Something - Dos Copas - road - V Trail - road - Cougar - Oly - Bottle Opener - High Life - Happy Hour - Keystone - Vitamin R - road - SST
Trail: Ridge - Family Fun Center - road - Intestine - Cleavage - El Pollo - Ewok Village - Cedar Dust - Bob's Trail
