2025 Paddle to Elwha Canoe Journey makes a stop in Birch Bay State Park

BLAINE – The Nooksack Indian Tribe will welcome canoe families on July 23 at Birch Bay State Park for a stopover as they continue their 2025 canoe journey. 

Several canoes will arrive at the beach and ask the host Tribe permission to come ashore. Canoe landings will occur throughout the day on the beach at Birch Bay by the Heron Center log building. 

Parking in front of the Heron Center will be reserved for Tribal Elders and visitors with a disability placard. The parking lot north of the Heron Center will be reserved for additional parking for Tribal families. Special camping accommodations have also been made for canoe families around the park. 

Visitors to the park should expect and plan for increased traffic congestion, limited parking and crowds. In support and partnership with the Tribes, State Parks staff are responsible for the park logistics and will have staff and signage available to help direct traffic. If you have questions or are not sure where to go, ask uniformed State Parks staff. 

The stopover is part of the 2025 Paddle to Elwha, which is hosted by the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. The final landing is on July 31 at the mouth of the Elwha River.  

How to share the park during Canoe Journey 

Canoe Journey is a sacred ceremony. State Parks asks the public to support by respectfully observing while visiting Birch Bay State Park during the stopover. 

Please follow these guidelines to respectfully share the space: 

• Pay attention to what is happening and step back to allow space for this to be about the Indigenous people. 

• Listen and observe. Do not interrupt preparations or ceremony to ask questions. Please visit the information booth instead. 

• Be quiet and respectful. Don’t talk during a prayer, a song, when an Elder is talking or when a canoe family is requesting permission to come ashore. 

• Avoid swearing, speaking loudly or speaking in degrading ways. 

• Do not touch the canoes unless you are invited to do so. 

• Walk behind singers and speakers. Do not cross in between the greeters and canoes. 

• Please remind children not to play in the water near the canoe landing ceremony. 

The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission is honored to lift the voices of the Indigenous People who will gather for the 2025 Paddle to Elwha Canoe Journey. Though State Parks is the current steward of some of these lands, these have been Indigenous lands since time immemorial. As an Indigenous ally, State Parks is privileged to use its platform to share these stories in partnership with the Tribes.