Always a beautiful hike. Always no one else on the beach.  It’s cool to see how the river is eroding its banks.

My husband and I enjoyed a beautiful New Years day hike along the sand dunes and beach. There was no shortage of stunning views! Towards the end of our hike, the trail starts to narrow and got very marshy. I would suggest wearing water proof shoes. Once we made it to the beach, it was hard to find the trail back into the sand dunes since it is not clearly marked 

The Copalis River Spit Trail in Griffiths-Priday State Park is a hidden gem.  No cars and only 3 other hikers traveled on this beautiful beach and sand dunes when we were there.  

The walk is easy and pleasant.  The trail starts at the beach side of the picnic area at the north end.  After a couple hundred yards, the path joins another trail heading north in the dunes.  There are no trail markers, but none are needed.  The path is obvious.  The trail has no obstructions, except overhanging blades of dune grass, which are no problem when wearing long pants.   The trail meanders in the dunes for about one mile to the horseshoe bend near the mouth of Connor Creek.  A driftwood bench overlooks the creek where the trail splits with one option heading west towards the beach and the other continuing north.  We followed the route towards the beach.  After a hundred yards or so, the trail drops down onto the beach from the dunes.  Note this location because it may be difficult to find on the return leg.  Two vertical driftwood poles marked the dune trail when we did the hike, but the poles may not be there after the next storm.  We walked out to the waters edge.  There were lots of crab debris and a few sand dollars.  We saw brown pelicans marauding along the breaking waves.  A bald eagle fetched its breakfast out of the surf.  Copalis Rock stood in the distance to the north.  The mouth of the Copalis River marks the turn around point.  Stay clear of the dunes near the Copalis River because the dunes are a snowy plover nesting area.  The leg back is just a re-trace of the outbound route.  On the way back, multiple forks in the trail lead to the east and we took the fork closest to Conner Creek.  My GPS showed a track of 4.75 miles when we returned to our car. 

On a sunny and warm Saturday morning in mid-October at 9:30 am, our car was the only one in the parking lot.  There were about 10 cars when we left about 12:30 pm.  There is plenty of room for 30 or 40 cars.  A restroom is nearby.  The road is no problem.  Bring your Discover Pass.

There was one other vehicle in the parking lot.  We saw NO ONE on the beach for the entire 3 hours that we are on the trail and beach, and best of all no vehicles on the beach either.  If you want a little beach solitude, this is apparently the place to go.

There were some lupine and yarrow blooming amidst the beach grass.  The beach had many flocks of little shore birds very focused on a particular band of the beach.  There were loads of crab and crab parts parked at a previous high tide line.  There was a block of wood with baby clams growing on it.  It was warm and sunny with a very light breeze.  Basically, a fabulous day at the beach.

The trail is easy to follow.  And it's evolving.  We visited maybe 18 months ago.  There was a lot more water in Connor Creek, such that we spent a good amount of time watching parts of the river bank plunge into the river.  Some of the former trails indicate where the river bank as been eroded.  There was substantially less water in the river today - more creek and less river.

The trail starts on the right side of the road by the dead end. For the most part, it's in really good condition, just a little overgrown in areas. It doesn't seem to get much traffic (I mean, I grew up in the area and have never been out here until now). If you stick roughly to the shore of Connor Creek you'll be on the right trail. Once you reach the end of the creek it's a pretty clear path to the Copalis River and the Spit.

Really a nice little walk through the dunes. The seclusion is wonderful and it makes the whole area feel very private.

I came out with a few bug bites, but they weren't too bad for the most part.

There are a lot of little patches of baby lupine along the trail, though you can access bigger patches on the west side of Connor Creek if you cross the Connor Creek Bridge at the end of Heath Rd.