Salish Ponds Wetland Park — Attraction in Fairview

The Salish Ponds has gotten a face lift. Some of it is good. Some of it is not so great. And it's hard to say how well it'll end up. I head to the Salish Ponds at least once a month with my infant daughter. We view the wild life, soak up the sun, and do a little fishing.

The West Pond now features several little "pits" (for lack of a better word) for small groups/families at the pond's edge. These have been flattened out for easier use of chairs, but the narrow steps into each can be difficult to navigate. They were not wide enough for a stroller. The sides of the pond are also quite steep, making fly fishing very difficult at the south side. There is a small area on the north side of the pond where I found casting to be clear.

There used to be a small dock on the north side of the pond. This has, sadly, been removed and placed in the East pond.

ODFW stopped stocking trout in the West pond the other year when the park re-construction began. ODFW does not plan to restock the west pond until Fall 2014.

The East Pond is fairly natural. ODFW does not plant trout into this half of the park, but you can find bluegill, largemouth bass and carp in the East Pond. There are plenty of areas to do some fishing, though fly casters are limited again. At this point, I've only caught bass from the NW dock on the fly. The new dock on the SE part of the East Pond sits in very shallow and very grassy water.

I am quite fond of the new walking paths around the ponds. They are nicely graveled and there is a lot of room. While these walking paths have entrances at Glisan Ave, it is illegal to park on Glisan now. Why this areas is a no parking zone now is beyond me. Parking is now limited to a few parking spots at the apartment complex adjacent to the East Pond.

The Salish Ponds are small, but very deep. The City of Fairview prohibits swimming and floating on the ponds--no float tubes, rafts,...

I would’ve given it a higher grade had there been clear instructions about how to get there. We first went to the villas and saw no parking signs so we didn’t park there. We then read some thing about going to the school so we parked at the school, but the directions after that were sketch. Here’s what you need to do if you park at the school walk toward the lakes to the west side of the school where the playground is walk between the school building in the playground keep your eyes open and in the back there is a path. That path will bring you eventually under Fairview down the trails into the lakes. We did read something on a sign that you can park at the villas. But because we didn’t park there I don’t know if there’s designated parking, or if you can park anywhere in there, or even if parking there is truly an option. I love this place but man it was pretty hard to find The best...

i find this place interesting. it's basically a trail that connects an elementary school (salish ponds) to fairview, which is a little town. there are trees everywhere and there are two lakes. swimming isn't allowed however and if you go fishing you have to put the fish back. there use to be homeless people living all around but from my experience of looking around and walking at night it seems they may have left. this trail is great for exercise. great for walking or riding a bike. im giving it 4 stars because of the no swimming and limited fishing but that's just me being slightly bias. there's also a target along the trail if you are thirsty or hungry and want to make a stop. fairview is also a beautiful area but this review is for the...