Salt Creek Recreation Area is a must see.

Salt Creek needs to be on your Olympic Peninsula to-do list.

One of the many hidden gems of the Olympic Peninsula is Salt Creek Recreation Area. The Pacific Northwest has some of the most beautiful coastal shorelines we have ever witnessed. Salt Creek Recreation Area is no exception. It offers dramatic rocky coastal water views, an expansive sandy beach, and a backdrop of rugged, snowcapped mountain peaks. Visitors can play in the water, lounge on the sand, hike through the woods, explore the tide pools, comb the beach for unearthed treasures, or search the sky, land, and sea for a wide variety of wildlife, both big and small.

Where:

Salt Creek is located 15 miles west of Port Angeles off Highway 112. Google maps here for exact location. Salt Creek is on the Strait of Juan de Fuca and along Crescent Bay offering spectacular views of Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

What:

Open year-round with free day use this 196-acre Park includes forests, rocky bluffs, tide pools, sandy beaches, campsites, and panoramic views for days. This site, formally Camp Hayden, was a harbor defense military base during WWII. It housed concrete bunkers designed to take a direct hit. Salt Creek also has a playground, picnic pavilion, restroom, and shower facilities.

All the things to do:

Tide pooling at the Tongue Point Marine Sanctuary

Check out the tide schedule before your arrival. We spend the majority of our time at Salt Creek exploring the tide pools. Claire is especially fond of the “clam towns” where mussels collect on the rocks. Henry cannot get enough of the crabs and small fish that are trapped in the tide pools at low tide. We are left chasing him from tide pool to tide pool to check out what is in the “nother one’s”. It really is amazing to watch their little minds work and process the smallest details. For example, where are the crab’s friends, and does he get lonely being in that tide pool all by “him’s self”? Or “do the baby fishies and crabs play hide and seek or tag”? Enquiring minds want to know..

Beachcombing

Walking along the shoreline and exploring the tide pools naturally leads to a little beach combing. We are sure to teach the kids that so many things are homes to animals, or living things themselves. Educating them about how various lifeforms live under rocks, driftwood, etc so we cannot pick up or disturb lots of the neat things we find on the beach, but it is still fun to look at them. We have found sea glass, sand dollars, driftwood, and countless cool shells.

Henry is especially fond of collecting rocks. My pockets would be full in under 3 minutes of walking along the beach if we allowed him to pick up every cool rock he found. By letting them take pictures of the “cool things” they find we don’t disturb the animal life. Also, we are not left to pack out a crazy amount of cool rocks.

Claire likes to pick up any litter we may happen to come across. She tries to take it all home to recycle it and use the trash in one of her latest inventions. God love her inventive mind.

Picnicking on the beach

An adventure that allows us to pack lunch, snacks, and drinks to enjoy along the way is right up our alley. Our typical adventure bag includes gloves, blankets, binoculars, camera, water bottles, crackers, fruit, cookies, and a few small toys to play with in the sand. Normally a toy truck, a superhero, and a baby doll or two is a staple in our “adventure pack”.

Salt Creek has several ideal spots to sit on beached logs, lay out a beach blanket, or even set up chairs and munch on a few treats. Most of our picnics end up being short-lived as the kids are always on the go. We keep it pretty simple so we can pack up quick and get back to exploring. One day I would like to take Kileigh, a blanket, and an adult beverage or three and just relax and unwind while getting lost in the beauty of Salt Creek and the surrounding area.

Exploring the remnants of WWII-era Camp Hayden

Preserved on the site are two concrete bunkers which housed 16″ cannons and several smaller bunkers. In order to get to one of the trailheads you even get to drive through the bunkers. Every time we drive through the bunkers Claire is nervous that the deactivated missiles will fire and chaos will ensue. She breathes a sigh of relief once we are away from the missiles and the car has not exploded. She gets the drama from her momma.

Surfing, kayaking, and scuba diving

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On our first trip to Salt Creek we were greeted with a parking lot full of surfers gearing up to go ride the waves. We walked down the path to the water and already there we at least 20 surfers in the water. It was a chilly day and the kiddos thought seeing them in the water meant that we might get to swim. We taught them about wet suits. How it helps keep your body temperature up when you are in the icy water. Honestly though, it still has got to be cold right? This summer we plan on taking them out into the water for a swim. I am curious to see what they have to say about the water temperature here as opposed to the water they used to play in in the Gulf of Mexico.

Bird, Whale, and Ship watching

Salt Creek is a premier birding site on the National Audubon’s Olympic Loop of the Greater Washington State Birding Trail. There are eagles galore. The Whale Trail is through this park as well. The kids love to look out into the water and watch the ships or look for whales, seals, waterfowl, and otters.

They think its really cool to look through the binoculars and see what things look like in Canada and have a hard time understanding that just on the other side of the water is a different country. Soon enough we will take them across the water and show them that Canada is similar to the U.S., minus the metric system. They have yet to master looking through the binoculars and spotting things, but practice makes perfect. I could use a few more animal spotters in the family so I will let them keep practicing on ships, whales, and sea birds all day long.

Camping

Approximately 73 of the 92 campsites are located on a bluff above the Strait of Juan de Fuca offering a view of the water. Camping is a little over $20 a night. Info for reservations here. Camping is at the top of our to do list this summer or even spring as the weather starts to warm up a bit. Just the thought of sipping on a cold beer and eating a s’more around a campfire has me itching for warmer weather and longer days. Claire loves for me to tell her stories about when I was a little boy and would go camping with my family so I am really excited to start making those memories with her.

Hiking Trails

There are several marked hiking trails to explore all around Salt Creek Recreation Area. This map lists them all.

Photo Shoot

The first product we added to our blog was t shirts. We all wore them on a visit to Salt Creek Recreation Area for an amazing photo shoot. Perfect shots for reflecting all that is the PNW! Bringing your camera is a must, there are so many beautiful spots you will want to document.

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Raised landlocked by mountains I have not spent much time near the ocean. Saltwater creatures are new to me. I could probably tell you every type of animal, bird, fish, or bug you would find where I grew up, but here I am in unchartered territory and I love it. I could spend all day, and night, just scanning the sea, sky, and shoreline for animals and birds, fascinated at all I see. The kids are also so inquisitive and eager to learn about new things, while I am constantly gaining knowledge and learning about the sea creatures we find here so I can share it with the kids. What I don’t know I just makeup and tell a really convincing story in awesome dad fashion. They fall for it almost 100% of the time and I get to walk away with my dignity intact.

A few years ago prior to Henry’s birth Kileigh, Claire, and I took a trip down the Pacific coast to visit family in California. We both loved the rocky coasts and all its beauty. To be able to live along the coast as we do now is such a blessing. One of our favorite all-time getaway spots is Glacier National Park in Montana. Although Salt Creek is small in size compared to Glacier, I would have to say that it is right up there in beauty. Plus while hiking around Salt Creek you don’t have to be on the lookout for grizzly bears so that is a definite plus.