The Utopia Conservation Area protects over 87 acres of creeks, wetlands, and forested habitat within the Skagit River floodplain.  It was acquired in 2012 and 2014 by the Trust, primarily to protect the salmon habitat found in Wiseman Creek (Black Slough) and the Skagit River which typically flows through and adjacent to the property.  Elk and deer have been known to frequent the area. 

This property was protected with the support of the Skagit Watershed Council, the WA State Salmon Recovery Funding Board, and a match from Seattle City Light. Utopia is also protected by a Wetland Reserve Program conservation easement held by the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS).

Pictured above: Community members visit Utopia Conservation Area for the "Festival of Frogs" in the spring of 2014. Photograph credit: Skagit Land Trust staff.

Involving Youth: Utopia Conservation Area as Conservation Classroom

The Utopia Conservation Area is an important place of field-based learning for schools and communities along the Skagit River. It is also a popular site for Skagit Land Trust's Engaging Youth in Conservation Conservation Classrooms program, which provides hands-on learning experiences through field-based education and stewardship projects for elementary, middle, and high age students in Skagit County. 

Above: The Kulshan Creek Neighborhood program is a unique partnership between the U.S. Forest Service, Mount Vernon Police Department, Catholic Housing Services of Washington, North Cascades Institute, and Skagit Land Trust. In June of 2018, participating families visited Utopia for a day of field ecology and exploration. Photograph credit: North Cascades Institute staff. 

Above: Youth in the Kulshan Creek Neighborhood program search for frogs in the wetlands of Utopia Conservation Area. Photograph credit: North Cascades Institute staff.

Teachers are invited to bring their students to Utopia for field trips. Click here to visit our Engaging Youth in Conservation page and learn more about youth engagement on Skagit Land Trust properties.

Skagit Land Trust's Conservation Classroom program invites educators to develop curriculum to use on Trust properties for experiential learning in a natural setting. These experiences will help further student engagement in natural sciences and teach many components of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) curriculum. The goal is to help promote a sense of place, connection, and a lifelong stewardship ethic. Photograph credit (above and below): North Cascades Institute staff.

The Utopia Conservation Area is maintained by the hard work of our many volunteers. Click here for information about the land stewards for this and other Skagit Land Trust properties.

Access

The Utopia Conservation Area offers a unique  transect of riparian habitat along the Skagit River. From the gate on Utopia Road, a wide trail (formerly a road) winds through the property leading across Wiseman Creek and into a large field. The trail continues into an area that is currently being revegetated with tall native trees to help shade out the invasive reed canary grass. Continue to follow the trail along the edge of the field to reach an overlook on the Skagit River. Use caution as river banks are unstable. Look and listen for frogs and other amphibians in the small wetland under the alder grove, as well as owl pellets. 

Note that during the spring, summer and fall, the reed canary grass that fills most of the fields can grow shoulder height or taller. The map below highlights areas that are forested or field.

Click here for a link to Google maps.

Click on the map above for a larger image. Map generated using 2017 NAIP aerial imagergy.