Paths to shoreline beauty and bliss are there if you look

PORT ANGELES -- You've heard about Olympic National Park's magnificent wilderness beach strip, with globally intriguing spots such as Point of Arches, Cape Alava and the Giant's Graveyard.

We've told you about Dungeness Spit, arching six miles into the wind-swept Strait of Juan de Fuca, and its picturesque lighthouse.

Many avid Washington hikers have tripped along the wonderful wildflower bluffs of Ebey's Landing on Whidbey Island.

But have you ever heard about the Striped Peak Beach Trail leading to an isolated cove where eagles fly and otters swim?

Have you walked the crescent beach and watched the sun drop behind the Olympics at the Foulweather Bluff Nature Preserve?

Have you scrambled the wild and rugged six-mile shore of Murdock Beach or dived into the Devil's Punch Bowl along the Spruce Railroad Trail?

Washington boasts a wealth of public shorelines -- the state alone owns 1,700 miles of saltwater beach -- and those who can't resist the magic pull of the beach can find some fine hiking.

A handful of spots have become well known because of their sheer natural drama and/or the easy access provided by trails. But plenty of Washington's shores remain relatively undiscovered, some overshadowed by better-known places or rarely visited because of difficult access and tough hiking.

With a little research, a bit of exploration -- and in this case, our help -- you can still find "secret" beach hikes out there where you'll see more wildlife than people, where you can be alone in the active zone where earth meets water.

Many have no trails per se. You simply walk on the beach, and this can range from easy strolling on soft sand to wicked scrambling along slippery, seaweed-covered boulders.

We call these "secret" beach hikes because most are little known by the public at large. But right up front let us acknowledge that none is truly secret. All are public lands and are known at least by locals.

MERYL SCHENKER/P-I

Ed English of Sequim revels in a brilliant sunset over the Strait of Juan de Fuca. His vantage point is the Salt Creek Campground 12 miles west of Post Angeles.

As always, we urge you to leave no litter, take no artifacts, remove no natural treasures except as allowed by established seasons and rules, respect private property and tread lightly on habitat for creatures large and small.

But do go discover your natural heritage and find out why these shores are important.

Foulweather Bluff Preserve

Tucked among vacation cabins and homes on the tip of the Kitsap Peninsula is this ecologically important gem of a beach on Hood Canal. It's a short, hard-to-find hike, less than a mile through second-growth forest to a shoreline of 3,800 feet.

It combines the saltwater shore of the canal with a bird-rich, brackish lagoon on the upland -- the kind once plentiful on the inland marine waters but mostly lost to diking, dredging and development. On a clear day you've got terrific views across the canal to eastern Olympics peaks such as The Brothers.

Owned by The Nature Conservancy, it is open to the public, but you may not camp, build fires or leave with anything but memories.

"It's a pretty rare environment," says Peter Dunwiddie, research director for the local office of the conservancy. "It's a real hot spot of biodiversity."

From Kingston, go west on state Route 104 to Hansville Road Northeast, following that north to the old Point No Point Resort. Here the road becomes Twin Spits Road. Follow it 2.8 more miles and find a dirt parking area on the left. It's tough to spot at first. Park between two signs that say "no parking dusk to dawn."

Find the trail in the bushes and follow it past the marsh to the beach. At the beach, you can go north around the low bluff about one-quarter mile (except at high tide), or south past the lagoon a half-mile or more. The lagoon is full of birds: chestnut-backed chickadees, goldfinches, herons, geese and red-winged blackbirds. You also may see pileated woodpeckers, ospreys or eagles.

MERYL SCHENKER/P-I

Haili Adams, 7, of Lake Oswego, Ore., displays her Salt Creek tide pool finds. Let's hope she put them back gently, as all visitors should.

This place is not widely known, but on sunny summer days you will see locals. We recommend this hike on a weekday evening.

Striped Peak Trail

This is a wild stretch of Strait of Juan de Fuca shoreline with interesting tide pools, sandwiched between Clallam County's Salt Creek Recreation Area and the former Camp Hayden Military Reservation (the latter is now managed by the state Department of Natural Resources).

You can access the shore from the Salt Creek camping area, and four miles of it to the east are public land. But it's tough, slippery hiking on seaweed and rock shelf, and is accessible only at low tides.

A better option for most hikers is the Striped Peak Trail, which begins near the check-in station at Salt Creek and leads two miles to an observation area at 1,166 feet with sweeping views out over the strait. En route, a steep side trail at about one mile drops 350 feet down to a little-known cove.

On a minus tide, it's possible for hardy hikers to hike the Striped Peak Trail down to the cove, then follow the wet, rocky shore west, looping back to Salt Creek.

On such a trip recently, we spotted three raccoons feeding in tide pools, a river otter squeaking as it swam along thick kelp forests just offshore and eagles flying overheard. Not a single person was seen. But the shoreline stretch is rugged and seaweed-slippery, not for kids at all, and if you don't watch the tide, the way back could get blocked. Do this only on an outgoing minus tide.

However, the trail to the cove and/or the Striped Peak viewpoint is highly recommended at all times. It follows the bluff above the shore, with nice views out over the water, through pretty old-growth forest of Douglas fir, hemlock and red cedar. At about a mile, find the side trail to the cove on the left.

The trail is open to mountain biking and is a great ride. On a recent weekday hike, there were tire tracks, but no riders were encountered.

To get there, just west of Port Angeles head west on state Route 112, which incidentally has been designated a National Scenic Byway. Go about five miles to the Camp Hayden Road. Follow that northerly to Salt Creek Recreation Area.

Murdock Beach

MERYL SCHENKER/P-I

Wading at Hood Canal in the Foulweather Bluff Nature Preserve, near the top of the Kitsap Peninsula, makes anyone feel like a kid again.

This is one of the wildest stretches of the entire Strait of Juan de Fuca shore, beautiful, rugged and not visited much at all. There are 30,210 feet -- almost six miles -- of state shoreline here, and if you're a strong hiker and hike by the tide, you can access most of it.

There's no trail -- just miles of rocky, bouldery, ankle-twisting shore, marked here and there by patches of sand flea-laden seaweed and headlands. It's tough going, but get a half-mile down the beach and -- man alive -- it feels primitive, primordial, pristine, marked by piles of driftwood and fallen trees, eroding clay banks and rocky headlands.

"It's a beautiful place," says Wayne Fitzwater, the DNR's area land manager. "I would be surprised if you saw anybody to the west of where the access trail comes down."

At least three eagle nests are perched in trees in remote stretches west of the access, which is reached off state Route 112. At 1.25 miles west of the Lyre River Road, head north on a narrow twisting gravel road, which may be marked "PA-S-2510." Follow that about 1.5 miles to a rough parking area where the road has been blocked by a berm and ditch.

The DNR recently blocked the road about 300 yards short of the beach because the site had become something of a party spot for area teens, and off-road riders were causing damage to uplands adjacent the beach. Fitzwater says there also were rumors and concern that the beach and road might be used by smugglers running pot from Canada.

A local paddling club has volunteered to help maintain the access point.

As for the hiking, walk past the berm down to crescent-shaped Murdock Beach, which can be hiked about one mile to the east (parts of the uplands here are private property). The wild shore is to the west.

On a recent trip, we made it about two miles on a minus tide before running out of time, but the public shore continues another three. Maps indicate two rocky headlands that might well be impassable except during minus tides, the first about three miles west of the access point.

In any case, you must watch the tides here all the time or risk getting trapped. We advise an outgoing minus. Wear good hiking boots because you'll be rock hopping and cobble dancing.

MERYL SCHENKER / P-I

Perhaps Nicholas Emmett, 8, of Port Angeles is contemplating deep thoughts or simply admiring his reflection in this rocky tide pool at Salt Creek.

Spruce Railroad Trail

OK, this one's no secret. But except on summer weekends, it's not busy, plus it's in the same region as two of the three hikes above and is a stunner. To anyone who loves to hike, there is no better way to experience deep-blue Lake Crescent than the four-mile Spruce Railroad Trail. It's the wildest spot on the lake; at least two people/cougar encounters have been reported there in recent years, none resulting in an attack.

This old railroad follows the uninhabited, unroaded north shore of the lake around the base of Pyramid Mountain, with plenty of lovely spots to stop for a picnic or a swim and great views out over the large natural lake and mountains.

It was built toward the end of World War I to harvest the area's abundant Sitka spruce, at the time ideal for aircraft manufacture. The line was finished a few days after the armistice and no spruce went to the war effort.

The trail has two access points. Follow U.S. 101 west from Port Angeles to East Beach Road and follow it 3.2 miles, taking a left at the sign for the trail and crossing the Lyre River just before reaching the trailhead. You also can follow 101 just past the lake and take Camp David Junior on the right to the trailhead. (You'll also pass the trailhead for Pyramid Mountain, a fine hike in its own right.)

This trail is wide and mostly flat, with a few ups and downs totaling about 250 feet of gain -- perfect for the family. It is open to mountain bikes, maybe the only such trail in Olympic National Park. Probably the single nicest spot on the whole trail is about one mile from the east trailhead, where an arching steel bridge spans a rocky cove known as the Devil's Punch Bowl, rumored to be 300 feet deep.

The park probably frowns on it, but the bridge railing makes a fine diving perch on a hot summer day.

There is said to be poison oak along the trail in this area, and old railroad tunnels just off the trail are mostly collapsed and dangerous.

But everything else about this trail and shore are absolutely inviting.

Beach tracks

• For a map of the Striped Peak Beach Trail and the Murdock Beach access, see the Department of Natural Resources Web pages at www.dnr.wa.gov/dataandmaps/maps/trail_maps.htm. Click on the green dots to the right of "North Olympic Peninsula."

• For The Nature Conservancy's Foul Weather Bluff Preserve, see nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/washington/preserves/art6363.html.

• For the Spruce Railroad Trail, see "Day Hike! Olympic Peninsula" by Seabury Blair Jr. (Sasquatch, 229 pages, $16.95).

• For details about the natural characteristics of Washington's inland marine beaches, see the state Department of Ecology's informative pages at www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/sea/pugetsound/index.html.

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