Washington seashores have at all times conjured their very own off-kilter magic: tidepools and driftwood, not sand dunes and sunburn. Which implies that in winter our stretches of shore do not lose their important attraction, even when we do want so as to add an additional jacket or two.
1. Richmond Seashore
Puget Sound
Like so a lot of the state’s waterfront, Shoreline’s Richmond Seashore Saltwater Park is healthier stocked with skipping stones than smooth sand. A pedestrian bridge over rail strains separates the parking zone and playground from the seashore acreage, making the 40-acre metropolis park really feel bigger than it ought to. An off-leash canine park is open November by mid-March, the uncommon winter-only attraction.
2. Juanita Seashore
Lake Washington
Although it boasts solely one thousand ft of Lake Washington shoreline, Kirkland’s compact seashore park hosts greater than a pure chilly plunge because of a revamped playground advanced and kayak boat launch. This stretch of sand was revealed when the Ship Canal lowered Lake Washington 100 years in the past, and it pairs properly with the walkable wetlands path at Juanita Bay Park subsequent door. Tennis courts, baseball fields, and sandy volleyball courts maintain issues energetic.
3. Evergreen Seashore
Puget Sound
The protected three-thousand-foot part of Olympia’s Eld Inlet known as Geoduck Seashore on Google maps—a nod to the mascot of the hike-in seashore’s proprietor, Evergreen State School. The campus path, lower than a mile every method, winds by primeval forest overstuffed with ferns and moss, the route much more spectacular than the seashore itself. Indicators are inconsistent on the many path interchanges, so it helps to have a common sense of route. Luckily it is laborious to get too misplaced between the school’s F parking zone and the water.
4. Kalaloch Seashore
Pacific Coast
Time is not fairly regular at Olympic Nationwide Park’s hottest seashore. It is laborious to pin down the season at Kalaloch, provided that sunshine and storms can occur any day of the 12 months and spectacular sunsets gentle up the Pacific horizon across the calendar. Components of Kalaloch Lodge really feel straight out of the Nineteen Fifties, when its important constructing was erected. Although the lengthy, straight seashore has been offering ramble area for hundreds of years, one attraction has gained social media consideration lately: a Sitka spruce whose roots dangle into the air the place the sand has eroded. Known as Tree Root Cave, the Runaway Tree, or the Tree of Life, it seems historic however will sometime collapse in a heap, leaving solely 1,000,000 Instagram reminiscences.
5. Mocrocks Seashore
Pacific COast
Simply south of the Quinault Indian Reservation, the tides can pull out to date that just about 1 / 4 mile of sand is revealed at Mocrocks. Razor clams love this shallow shelf, which means razor clammers do too; when water high quality is deemed wholesome, Washington Division of Fish and Wildlife opens the stretch to reap. For a lot of the 12 months, nevertheless, it is a seashore large enough to search out peace and quiet.
6. Bottle Seashore
Grays Harbor
Spring is that this Grays Harbor state park’s prime time, given the variety of migratory shorebirds that journey by the spot—greater than 1,000,000 a 12 months. However wildlife exhibits up on the broad tidal flats year-round. As soon as meant to be a city referred to as Ocosta—it boasted a lumber firm, three resorts, and a brewery by the Nineties—the spot is now quiet and forgotten, a serene getaway when the winds pound too laborious on the close by ocean seashores of Westport and Grayland.
7. Birch Bay
Puget Sound
What if an enormous, half-moon-shaped trip getaway had been plunked down in a not-so-tropical location? It will look one thing like Birch Bay simply south of the Canadian border, the place trip leases sit subsequent to seafood takeout joints—a sunnier vibe than the moody Salish Sea usually delivers in winter. The state park right here has a mile of waterfront, including to acres accessible between companies farther north. In summer time the water park fills with crowds, however the low season presents fish and chips with a aspect of sundown solitude.
8. Kalama Seashore
Columbia River
The Columbia River is not recognized for its seashores, and Kalama’s part simply south of Longview is just not out to make waves. However the 5 acres alongside I-5 pack so much right into a noon pit cease between Portland and Seattle. A bit of sand at Louis Rasmussen Park acts as buffer between the economic shoreline and the river itself; sport courts dot the inland components of the park. The large porch on the McMenamins Kalama Harbor Lodge acts as the perfect setting for a day drink, as does a cabin-shaped bar the resort owns a bit south on Ahles Level.
Dungeness Spit extends into the chilly waters close to Sequim.
9. Dungeness Spit
STrait of Juan de Fuca
The lengthy, spindly finger that bends north from Sequim is commonly beset by storms that roll by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, blocking views of Vancouver Island throughout the water. However the charms of Dungeness Spit lie within the flocks of loon, grebe, and different shorebirds, the wildlife having fun with that they get sole entry to a lot of the land right here. A stroll to the lighthouse on the finish of the peninsula is longer than it seems, a great ten miles spherical journey. Volunteer lighthouse keepers give excursions of the squat, historic construction and supply picnic tables and restrooms earlier than the return hike.
A horseshoe crab hangs out on Lengthy Seashore.
10. Lengthy Seashore
Pacific Coast
Can you actually contemplate a city like this, the place saltwater taffy and ice cream scoops run by its metaphorical veins, a winter vacation spot? Certain, particularly when solitude is the objective. Extra stretches of the infinite sand are open to driving through the off months and razor clamming days deliver intrepid hunters to the waves. Heat clam chowder is dished year-round up and down the peninsula, and a brand new spa presents heat soaks on even the stormiest days.
