WNPS Field Trip: Hike to Find Plants from 50 Million Years Ago

Deming, Bellingham WA

13 October, 2022

Description

The Koma Kulshan Chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society regularly holds educational field trips, meetings, and webinars--typically free and open to the public! Space is limited; registration is required for this event. Please see below for details. Date: Thursday, October 13 Time: 10:00 am - 2:00 pm Location: Meetup location information will be provided upon registration for this event. Find registration information at For more info about this trail, please visit: The January 2009 landslide near Racehorse Creek has uncovered 50 million-year-old leaf fossils and sits on the shoulder of the aptly named Slide Mountain, only a short drive from Bellingham. The rocks near Racehorse Creek are part of the Chuckanut formation, a 34 to 56 million-year-old sedimentary formation. When it was first deposited, this tropical landscape hosted a floodplain and river system with swamp-dwelling vegetation that was later fossilized. We will hike along an abandoned logging road for about a mile before we reach a short but very steep part to climb up to the landslide area (I would classify this 0.15-mile part as difficult with a trail grade of about 45% and a possible rope to pull yourself up). There we will spend some time roaming around amongst the rocks in search of the fossils. Once we have discovered enough we will retrace our way back to the cars. Total roundtrip distance is about 2.1 miles with an elevation gain of 1,000 ft. We will leave Bellingham at 10:00 am and return around 2:00 pm. Group size limited to 10. Pre-registration required.