Northwest Washington River Access

M_D

M_D

Bringin' the Skunk
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Who does one contact to find out if it's legal to walk and/or ride a bike on the dikes bordering the Skagit or Nooksack? Is it a water district thing? A county department? State? Federales?

I sent a general email to one of the Parks departments but received only crickets in response.

Anyone in the know wanna share?
 
I am not any sort of expert but it is my understanding that the dikes are under the jurisdiction of that particular dike authority. Also, my understanding is most are not open to the public with a couple of exceptions. One would be the dike along Burlington’s Skagit River Park for example.

I would contact the dike district in charge of a particular dike to see if access is allowed.
 
Better to ask forgiveness than permission.
Just ask the guys that got tickets for crossing the rail road tracks on the Yak.
You give a guy a gun and a badge, a ticket book and guess what? Yep ya get a ticket.
Don't pay any attention to me I live in Oregon where you can not walk or wade below the high water line on private property without permission from the land owner on non navigable water ways.
 
The dikes on the Skagit are a funny thing. Dikes are public improvements paid for by taxpayers, so they are a public asset. However, many of those public dikes are built on private property. Used to be you could walk atop almost any of them with no issues. That changed some years ago, maybe 20 even. Some private landowners got fed up with the behavior of some dike users, or got fed up with the very concept that someone was walking on a public asset built on their land and complained to Skagit County. Since then the County's view is that the dikes are on private land under private property control even though the dikes themselves are technically owned by the public. So you can only use them with landowner permission. Reversing that would take a well financed court case, and there's no guarantee of winning. This was told to me by my sister who lives in the county and had been walking her dog on the dikes since 1985.
 
Salmo_g said:
The dikes on the Skagit are a funny thing. Dikes are public improvements paid for by taxpayers, so they are a public asset. However, many of those public dikes are built on private property. Used to be you could walk atop almost any of them with no issues. That changed some years ago, maybe 20 even. Some private landowners got fed up with the behavior of some dike users, or got fed up with the very concept that someone was walking on a public asset built on their land and complained to Skagit County. Since then the County's view is that the dikes are on private land under private property control even though the dikes themselves are technically owned by the public. So you can only use them with landowner permission. Reversing that would take a well financed court case, and there's no guarantee of winning. This was told to me by my sister who lives in the county and had been walking her dog on the dikes since 1985.
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I think your description is close but it is only owners of certain properties within the relevant Dike or Drainage District which pay assessments to support the dikes and drainage. Now who paid to build which dike in the first place might get a little more complicated.
 
Salmo_g said:
The dikes on the Skagit are a funny thing. Dikes are public improvements paid for by taxpayers, so they are a public asset. However, many of those public dikes are built on private property. Used to be you could walk atop almost any of them with no issues. That changed some years ago, maybe 20 even. Some private landowners got fed up with the behavior of some dike users, or got fed up with the very concept that someone was walking on a public asset built on their land and complained to Skagit County. Since then the County's view is that the dikes are on private land under private property control even though the dikes themselves are technically owned by the public. So you can only use them with landowner permission. Reversing that would take a well financed court case, and there's no guarantee of winning. This was told to me by my sister who lives in the county and had been walking her dog on the dikes since 1985.
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I know a family with at least one of thoses access points on their land. The dike road is gated and locked. Years ago they gave keys to close family and friends for fishing access. Nice hole and the quiet litter free area was a gem. I kept the key for its sentimental value but last used it over 20 years ago. Not for sale 🙃
 
Salmo_g said:
The dikes on the Skagit are a funny thing. Dikes are public improvements paid for by taxpayers, so they are a public asset. However, many of those public dikes are built on private property. Used to be you could walk atop almost any of them with no issues. That changed some years ago, maybe 20 even. Some private landowners got fed up with the behavior of some dike users, or got fed up with the very concept that someone was walking on a public asset built on their land and complained to Skagit County. Since then the County's view is that the dikes are on private land under private property control even though the dikes themselves are technically owned by the public. So you can only use them with landowner permission. Reversing that would take a well financed court case, and there's no guarantee of winning. This was told to me by my sister who lives in the county and had been walking her dog on the dikes since 1985.
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Tim Lockhart said:
I know a family with at least one of thoses access points on their land. The dike road is gated and locked. Years ago they gave keys to close family and friends for fishing access. Nice hole and the quiet litter free area was a gem. I kept the key for its sentimental value but last used it over 20 years ago. Not for sale
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...which is why I was asking. It looks pretty enticing on Google maps. One can see the gates, what appear to be parking areas, and even some well used 'roads' and trails, but after hearing stories/complaints about access in Whatcom county, I wanted to get an official word from some authority figure.
kerrys said:
I am not any sort of expert but it is my understanding that the dikes are under the jurisdiction of that particular dike authority. Also, my understanding is most are not open to the public with a couple of exceptions. One would be the dike along Burlington’s Skagit River Park for example.

I would contact the dike district in charge of a particular dike to see if access is allowed.
Click to expand...

I did some more digging after Kerry's response and found the map later referenced by Matt. I couldn't find email addresses for the various dike commissioners so I fired off an email to somebody at Skagit Co Public works.

What a bummer to hear it's likely off limits....but I get it...who wants to clean up someone else's dumped couches, cars, and general crap forever...what a shame.

Guess I'll have to get my little boat running again or pick up a canoe/kayak and do Mike Cline's 'Last Mile First'

Mike d
 
in the 60s we would walk the RR tracks to get to some good fishing spots on the Yak. we never bothered anyone and never saw anyone either. i guess things have changed.
 
dirty dog said:
Better to ask forgiveness than permission.
Just ask the guys that got tickets for crossing the rail road tracks on the Yak.
You give a guy a gun and a badge, a ticket book and guess what? Yep ya get a ticket.
Don't pay any attention to me I live in Oregon where you can not walk or wade below the high water line on private property without permission from the land owner on non navigable water ways.
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Walking in the high water mark along the Skagit dikes wouldn’t be easy not to mention deadly.
Leland
 
Salmo_g said:
The dikes on the Skagit are a funny thing. Dikes are public improvements paid for by taxpayers, so they are a public asset. However, many of those public dikes are built on private property. Used to be you could walk atop almost any of them with no issues. That changed some years ago, maybe 20 even. Some private landowners got fed up with the behavior of some dike users, or got fed up with the very concept that someone was walking on a public asset built on their land and complained to Skagit County. Since then the County's view is that the dikes are on private land under private property control even though the dikes themselves are technically owned by the public. So you can only use them with landowner permission. Reversing that would take a well financed court case, and there's no guarantee of winning. This was told to me by my sister who lives in the county and had been walking her dog on the dikes since 1985.
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so like many public assets the are only usable for the select few, But when the dike breaks & flooding occurs the fix is at the taxpayers expense. awesome!
 
Snopro said:
The state of Oregon disagrees with you.

Which waterways are state-owned?
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Thanks for the link.
Did you read it?
Many of Oregon's water ways have not been determined navigable. Ownership is questionable.
I know that my home water below the BLM property line on the N. Umpqua is private except for the Co. park.
You can not get out of yer boat to fish even standing in the water.
 
bennysbuddy said:
so like many public assets the are only usable for the select few, But when the dike breaks & flooding occurs the fix is at the taxpayers expense. awesome!
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No, when the dikes in the diking districts break, the district pays to fix it. The farmers clean up their own fields. And when the smolt-shredding pumps break, the drainage district pays to fix it.
 
Matt B said:
No, when the dikes in the diking districts break, the district pays to fix it. The farmers clean up their own fields. And when the smolt-shredding pumps break, the drainage district pays to fix it.
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the dike district taxes everybody in the district , but only gives keys to the waterfront owners, it's just like C- post road on the stilly. the taxpayers paid for the concrete bridge to be built then the road was declared a private road until the OSO slide wiped it out then public funds were used to fix the so called private road & a gate was installed with select people having the key.
 
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dirty dog said:
Better to ask forgiveness than permission.
Just ask the guys that got tickets for crossing the rail road tracks on the Yak.
You give a guy a gun and a badge, a ticket book and guess what? Yep ya get a ticket.
Don't pay any attention to me I live in Oregon where you can not walk or wade below the high water line on private property without permission from the land owner on non navigable water ways.
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That is a good point to think about the rail road tracks. I met the Rail Road policeman, working out of Hermiston, one morning several years ago at Wallula. I was new to searching steelhead spots down there, had always seen rigs, so I parked in the dark and I missed the sign, and there I was. I talked to him a bit and he said they are trying to keep people from getting killed, as a few actually had. It's flying rocks and things flapping attached to the train that gets many I guess. I didn't get written up, but some belligerent old guys down the way did. Crossing the tracks along the Columbia and Snake is pretty much considered trespassing.
 
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bennysbuddy said:
the dike district taxes everybody in the district , but only gives keys to the waterfront owners, it's just like C- post road on the stilly. the taxpayers paid for the concrete bridge to be built then the road was declared a private road until the OSO slide wiped it out then public funds were used to fix the so called private road & a gate was installed with select people having the key.
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Wasn't there a thread about checkerboarded land with the same problems ?
 
The answer is the ownership is varied much more than expected. You can look at land ownership on assessor websites and figure it out. Most levees and dike aren’t public access.

I’d just go on busy weekend days when the fishing is good so it’s crowded and do some scouting and look for cars parked. There aren’t any secrets on these rivers anymore. Just go and pay attention and meet other fisherfolk and ask questions. The quickest way to learn is to go explore.
 
dirty dog said:
Thanks for the link.
Did you read it?
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Sure, many times over the years. This part stands out to me.

"According to a 2005 Oregon Attorney General opinion, on waterways that have not been determined to be state-owned, the public is allowed to use the surface of the waterway for any legal activity unless the waterway isn’t wide, deep or long enough for a boat to pass along it.

Additionally, the opinion states that if the waterway meets the above criteria, the public has the right to use the submerged and submersible land below the line of ordinary high water for water-dependent uses (such as swimming, boating and fishing), and "uses incidental to a water-dependent use such as camping when travelling a long distance and walking while fishing." In cases of emergency or if it is necessary to travel around a barrier, the public may temporarily go above the line of ordinary high water."

I'm not familiar with the N. Umpqua. Do you have a link to the no getting out of the boat law?
 
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