Skate park stays, disc golf course opens 

The Point Roberts Parks and Recreation District is moving ahead with a small-scale forest cleanup while canceling proposed changes to the skate park. Commissioners also marked the opening of the community’s new Blackberry Hill disc golf course during their August meeting.
Muitiuse court plans canceled
The District has called off plans to repurpose or remove the Point Roberts skate park, voting instead to work with a community skater group on a formal user agreement. The proposed changes followed a spring complaint about the park’s deteriorated and potentially unsafe condition. “No one asked for a change from a skate park to a different use of the space, but they asked it to be safe,” Commissioner Bronwyn Glor said.
Glor, who reviewed more than 400 pages of records on the park’s 20-year history, said it was built with substantial community support, including $25,000 from the Parks Commission, $8,000 from Tsawwassen Rotary and other local and Canadian contributions. She also found that maintenance responsibilities have been unclear over the years.
Glor said the park is used by more than the core skateboard group that has been attending meetings, noting that she saw parents and children using it for skateboards, scooters and bicycles during several visits. After speaking with a skater, she also questioned whether the proposed multiuse layout would work as a skate park, since its long, flat section is needed to build speed before using the ramps. She cited a petition with 335 signatures supporting the skate park.
Commissioner Allison Calder said the multiuse idea grew partly from the park’s maintenance problems and a lack of funding for new recreational facilities. The concept was to retain some skate ramps while adding space for other activities. Commissioners ultimately voted unanimously to table the proposal and work with a community group on a user agreement defining responsibilities for maintenance, repairs and future improvements.
Forest cleanup to begin at Baker Field
Commissioners continued discussing recommendations from the Washington Department of Natural Resources aimed at improving forest health and reducing fire risk. Recommendations include clearing overgrown brush along trails, maintaining trails wide enough for emergency vehicles and addressing excessive deadfall.
Glor cautioned against applying the state’s forest-management recommendations too broadly, noting that DNR’s plans address a variety of forests, including timber-producing lands, while Point Roberts’ forest is a recreational park. She said thinning the forest must be balanced against the risk of encouraging invasive species. “We can also open up too much space and allow the invasive species that are there to flourish, and that's the last thing we want,” she said.
The commissioners discussed using the DNR plans as guidance while basing future work on site-specific recommendations and potentially seeking input from other forest professionals. For now, the district plans to start with a small cleanup at the Baker Field parking lot before evaluating whether to expand the work to nearby trails.
“It took decades for it to get this way. It's going to take us a while to get it back. But if we don't start now, it's never going to happen, and it's only going to get worse,” Calder said. The effort is expected to involve staff and volunteers, with a community cleanup tentatively planned for September.
Blackberry Hill disc golf course opens
Point Roberts’ new Blackberry Hill disc golf course officially opened Aug. 15. The idea was first proposed publicly in August 2024 by a local disc golf player who asked whether Point Roberts had land that could accommodate a course after learning the nearby Tsawwassen course was slated for development. The Park and Recreation District later took up the project, clearing the course and installing baskets and tee pads.
The course is now playable, with maps and navigation available through the UDisc app.