Burns Bog

Burns Bog is a large natural bog in central Delta surrounded by highways. It is a sensitive environment which has so far survived a number of fires and abuses over the years. To protect the bog, most of its area has been fenced off and closed to public access. There is one portion still accessible called the Burns Bog Delta Nature Preserve. This area is part of the conservation area but is being managed to provide the public a glimpse of the biodiversity of the bog. The preserve has many boardwalks making travel easy over the bog. The bog area continues south of the preserve past 72nd Ave and includes an area called the bog ruins which was where a peat processing factory once stood. This ruins area is inside the bog conservancy and there are plans to build support buildings for the preserve in the future as the land has already been damaged. To the east of the ruins are trails and easy access from Delta to the bog and the trail system. It is here that I found an easy way to activate the bog in the parks on the air program.

So having reviewed the bog and found an easily assessable point where one can carry in radio gear, I waited for my first chance to head out and just see if I was right. Finally, a day when I was free and the weather warm and sunny came and so I packed up the car and set out for the trailhead to the bog. I drove the 99 to highway 91 took the 72nd Ave exit and turned off on the first road. A couple blocks further and I parked the car. Here a trail system parallels the bog on the east side of Cougar creek, much restoration work has been done on the creek and crossing it has been discouraged. Continuing south on the road just past where the road crosses the creek is the trail to the bog. I scouted the area and confirmed that the trail did have good access across the train tracks to the bog.

After walking the trail, I returned to the car and moved it closer to the trailhead and then unloaded my equipment into the cart. The first part of the trail has a steep drop along side the creek but it was easy access for the cart. There were a few narrow uneven bits just before reaching the tracks but nothing I couldn’t handle. Crossing the tracks with the cart would be more of a challenge. In the end I just picked it up and carried across. Then I reached the trail that runs north-south along the edge of the bog where there were a number of people out for a stroll enjoying the warm sun. The side trail continued into the actual ruins area and I found a spot close to the main trail.