Hovander Homestead Park trail

Location: Ferndale, Whatcom County

Length: More than two miles of trails.

Level of difficulty: Level to gentle grass fields and dirt/grass/gravel trails.

Setting: This beautiful working farm with its picture-perfect homestead, outbuildings and animals reflects Whatcom County life during the early part of the 20th century. The park includes 60 acres of fertile fields and forests snuggled against the meandering Nooksack River.

The elegant 1903 house, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was the creation of Hokan Hovander, a Swedish architect who brought his family to the area in 1896. The interior is furnished with many family pieces, and lush flower and vegetable gardens surround the house, including master-gardener demonstration plots.

Antique farm tools and vehicles are displayed near the huge 1911 barn, and farm animals include sheep, ducks, chickens, pigs and cows. Picnic tables dot the mown lawns, and the nearby Nooksack offers good fishing. Trails include a half-mile meadow path to Tennant Lake Park (profiled here last week), and a two-mile dike trail along the river.

Highlights: Climb the observation tower for views of the grounds and Mount Baker. The Hovander House is open for tours for $1 donation on May weekends and Thursdays through Sundays from noon to 4:30 p.m. from June through Labor Day. The park hosts the Whatcom County Hot Air Balloon and Music Fest on Aug. 5. For more information, see the Web site, www.co.whatcom.wa.us/parks/facil/facil.htm, or call 360-384-3444.

Facilities: Accessible restrooms, water, phone and playground.

Restrictions: Leash and scoop laws in effect for pets. Suggested parking donation of $3 for visitors from outside Whatcom County.

Directions: From Interstate 5 north of Bellingham, take Exit 262. Drive west on Main Street; in a half-mile, just after crossing under a railroad overpass, carefully take a sharp left turn on Hovander Drive. Take the first right, on Nielsen Avenue; go to the end of the road and turn right at the park entrance sign.

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Special to The Seattle Times Cathy McDonald is coauthor with Stephen Whitney of "Nature Walks In and Around Seattle," with photographs by James Hendrickson (The Mountaineers, second edition, 1997).