Editing Whatcom County, Washington (section)

==Geography==
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the county has a total area of {{convert|2503|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|2107|sqmi}} is land and {{convert|397|sqmi}}, or 16%, is covered by water.<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 22, 2012 |title=2010 Census Gazetteer Files |url=http://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/counties_list_53.txt |access-date=July 16, 2015 |publisher=United States Census Bureau}}</ref>

Western Whatcom County is part of the [[Fraser Lowland]], the plain of the [[Fraser River]], most of which is in the [[Lower Mainland]] of [[British Columbia]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2008}} At some periods in the past, one of the [[Fraser River]]'s [[distributary|distributaries]] may have entered Bellingham Bay near Bellingham at or near the modern-day mouth of the [[Nooksack River]].{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

The remainder of Whatcom County is in the [[Cascade Range]], including [[Mount Baker]].
In their foothills is [[Lake Whatcom]], which is drained by [[Whatcom Creek]] into [[Bellingham Bay]].

A small part of the county, [[Point Roberts, Washington|Point Roberts]], about {{convert|5|sqmi|km2|0}}, is an extension of the Tsawwassen Peninsula, which is bisected by the [[Canada–United States border|Canada–US border]] along the 49th parallel. The highest point in the county is the peak of the active volcano [[Mount Baker]] at {{convert|10778|ft|m|0}} above sea level. The lowest points are at sea level along the [[Salish Sea]], an arm of the Pacific Ocean.

===Geographic features===
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
*[[Bellingham Bay]]
*[[Birch Bay]]
*[[North Cascades|Cascade Mountains]]
**[[Chuckanut Mountains]]
**[[Mount Baker]], highest point in Whatcom County
**[[American Border Peak]]
**[[Sumas Mountain]]
**[[Mount Shuksan]]
*[[Chilliwack River]]/Chilliwack Lake
*[[Eliza Island]]
*[[Lake Whatcom]]
*[[Lummi Island]]
*[[Lummi Bay]]
*[[Nooksack River]]
*[[North Lookout Mountain]], known locally as Galbraith Mountain
*[[Portage Island]]
*[[Semiahmoo Bay]]
**[[Semiahmoo Spit]]
*[[Skagit River]]/[[Ross Lake (Washington)|Ross Lake]]
*[[Sumas River]]
{{div col end}}

===National protected areas===
* [[Mount Baker National Recreation Area]]
* [[Mount Baker–Snoqualmie National Forest]] (part)
* [[North Cascades National Park]] (part)
* [[Ross Lake National Recreation Area]] (part)
* [[Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail]] (part)

===State protected areas===
* [[Birch Bay State Park]]
* [[Lake Terrell Wildlife Refuge]]
* [[Larrabee State Park]]
* [[Lookout Mountain, Washington|Lookout Mountain]] ([[Washington Department of Natural Resources|DNR]])
* [[Lummi Island]] (part) ([[Washington Department of Natural Resources|DNR]])
* [[Stewart Mountain]] ([[Washington Department of Natural Resources|DNR]])
* [[Lake Whatcom]] Watershed

===Major highways===
*[[Interstate 5]] connecting with [[Seattle]], [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]], [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]], Los Angeles, [[San Diego]] and points south.
*[[Washington State Route 20|SR 20]] connecting [[U.S. Route 101|US 101]] and [[Sidney, British Columbia]] with [[Newport, Washington]] via the North Cascades Highway. Farthest north highway thru the Cascade Mountains in USA. Note that this highway does not connect to most of Whatcom County – Instead, a person would have to travel south to Sedro-Woolley in Skagit County to connect to Highway 20.
*[[Alaska Marine Highway]] connecting Alaska highways to the [[Interstate Highway System]].

===Adjacent counties===
*[[Metro Vancouver Regional District]], British Columbia – north
*[[Fraser Valley Regional District]], British Columbia – northeast
*[[Cowichan Valley Regional District]], British Columbia – west
*[[Capital Regional District]], British Columbia – west
*[[Okanogan County, Washington|Okanogan County]] – east
*[[San Juan County, Washington|San Juan County]] – southwest
*[[Skagit County, Washington|Skagit County]] – south