Aiston Preserve
Photo by Edmund Lowe Photography
Visit the Aiston Preserve
There are two trailheads through which you can enter the Aiston Preserve. To reach the northern trailhead, follow Beach Avenue to its southern terminus, or use Google Maps to route to 1100 Smugglers Cove, Lummi Island. The southern trailhead is the Inati Gate, which is .2 miles south of Dana Circle on Island Drive (just past the parking lot).
Located on the southeast flank of Lummi Mountain, the Aiston Preserve is comprised of a 105-acre property the Heritage Trust purchased in 2015, and the 120-acre Reflection Woods property the Heritage Trust acquired in 2022. About 20 acres of the original 105 acres were affected by human use and mining. The rest is deep mossy forests that contain native plant and wildlife habitats and 4,000 feet of rocky shoreline with beach and tideland habitats, eelgrass beds, and Smuggler’s Cove.
The Reflection Woods section of the Aiston Preserve starts at the Inati Gate. Descend the Inati Trail, a steep 1.5-mile out-and-back trail, or follow its northern spur, Deer Fern Way, a 1.2-mile point-to-point hike that ends at the lower parking lot on Beach Ave.
Do not venture off these trails. The Aiston Preserve also includes a former gravel quarry, which remains closed to the public.
Trail Map
Please help us care for these special places by respecting our rules.
Preserves are open only during daylight hours.
Please stay on the trails.
Only foot traffic is permitted. Bicycles and motorized vehicles are not allowed.
Foraging is not permitted. Please do not pick, remove, or disturb plants.
Please leave nothing behind, including trash.
Do not feed wildlife.
Please help us be good neighbors. Respect private property and do not trespass.
Please pick up after your dog and always keep them leashed.
Fires, smoking, and alcohol are strictly prohibited.
No hunting is permitted. Firearms or other weapons are not allowed.
Camping is not allowed.
Drones are not allowed.
History of the Aiston Preserve
In 1906, the Japanese American Fish Fertilizer Company owned this land and smuggled Japanese men in to work there, which is why the cove came to be known as Smugglers Cove. Beginning in 1933, it was periodically used as a rock and gravel mine – a practice that ended in 2013 when the last mining company to operate there went into receivership. Homer and Marguerite “Peggy” Aiston purchased 144 acres on Lummi Island in 1942 that included all of Smuggler’s Cove. The Aistons built a small cabin near the beach. There was no road to that part of the island, so the Aistons traveled between their property and Bellingham in a double-ender boat, the Doxie. Kay and Lloyd Niedhamer built a home in 1968 and many recall Kay's frequent swims across Smugglers Cove to Abner Point. The Heritage Trust bought the property in 2015.
Reclamation of the Aiston Preserve
