Although I only live a few minutes away, I’ve never been to visit this little park until today. Despite being a gorgeous sunny day, my dog and I were the only visitors, which is just how we like it.

This park has been described by many online as “disappointing”. To be sure, it is small, surrounded on all sides by housing developments and the highway, and the “modern” petroglyphs are beginning to take over, see below:

Pretty sure this one was carved recently

The original petroglyphs can be hard to make out, since they have become overgrown with moss and debris. Here is the main frieze as it looks today, but the individual images are hard to distinguish.

Here’s an image taken from the internet of how they looked when the site was freshly prepared:

A little more impressive! It’s interesting to think that so close to my home, Salish people were here carving these images into sandstone over 1000 years ago.

Two headed bird?

One of my favorite parts of the visit were the dozens of pink and purple fairy slipper orchids that I saw everywhere. I’ve never seen this variety in the wild before and they were exceedingly charming. Apparently the corms used to be a food source for native peoples.

I also saw a few white trilliums, a flower that always reminds me of my childhood back east, where the woodlands behind my house were wall to wall carpeted with them every spring. Sadly, Google Maps reveals that most of that magical forest is cut down now to make way for housing developments.

One of the best things about this miniature park is that not too far in and up and you are treated to this pretty breathtaking view:

Definitely worth a visit!