Friday, July 13, 2018

Silver Lake Park

We recently stayed at Silver Lake Park in Maple Falls for the first time. We checked it out last summer and thought it would be a fun place to stay. If you're a Whatcom County resident you get first dibs on reservations until April and also a 10% discount. You have to bring a valid drivers license with proof of Whatcom County address or a recent property tax statement to get your discount. Then you will receive your refund when you check in at the lodge. Beware you won't get any cell service out there.  If you're looking for a fun, family-friendly place to camp that's less than an hours drive from Bellingham, check out Silver Lake Park. They have swimming, boating, fishing, walking trails and a kids playground.










They have four campgrounds in the park.
Maple Creek has RV and tent sites.
Cedar has tent sites only.
Red Mountain is a horse camp with a stable for people who like to camp with horses.
Group Camp for large groups.
 (pictured above a campsite in the Cedar campground)
The park only has vault toilets except for the main bathroom near the lodge that has coin-op showers and flush toilets.





They also have six cabins you can reserve and a day lodge with a 3-bedroom suite.
The cabins are all located along the lake. Each one has a different layout. Baker cabin is the most expensive since it is the only one with a bathroom inside. There is a vault toilet nearby for the other cabins to use. Only one of the cabins accepts pets and you have to pay extra. We reserved the cabin named Sumas since we had seen it before on our day trip and liked it the best. It also has a separate bedroom, which some of the others do not. I also think it has the best view of the lake out of all the cabins. The cabins were built in the 1940's and have been maintained well. Each one has a deck with lake views. They also have a fridge, four burner stove, sink, and a propane fireplace in each cabin. Which we were glad to have as it was cold and rainy the whole trip. The cabins are not supplied with anything, so you need to bring all your own bedding and cooking supplies etc.


Sumas Cabin with Lake in Background


  Inside of cabin. Has two double beds and a table.




Nice kitchen with sink, full sized fridge and freezer, and gas burning stove.




Third double bed in separate room.  




Lake view deck


View of the back deck from the lake





Really nice playground for kids in the park






Snack area inside the day lodge. They sell candy and drinks, also t-shirts, fishing bait, and firewood.




Nice room inside the Day Lodge with beautiful lakeside views. You can hang out and have snacks and play some board games. They also rent this out for weddings etc, there was one happening during our stay. 




At the Lodge, you can rent rowboats, pedal boats, canoes and stand up paddle boards. Available per hour or for the whole day.  We tried the Pedal boats since I haven't been on one since I was a kid. They are a lot harder to pedal than I remember but still fun. I enjoyed going out on my kayak a lot more.










I noticed the lake is quite popular for fishing. We didn't get our fishing licenses this year but a nice man who was fishing by our cabin gave us his trout he caught for the day. So we cooked it up for dinner that night. Was delicious and a nice treat.







Cold and Cloudy most of the time. 





Far over the misty mountains cold



Getting There: From Bellingham Head NE on Sunset drive/WA-542 stay on WA-542 passing through 3 traffic circles for about 23 miles. Turn Left onto Silver Lake Rd. Follow for 3.5 miles then you will see the sign for Silver Lake Park on your right.