This trail is a nice quick 1 1/2 mile loop to do if you don't have time (or stamina) to hike farther. Drive to the very end of the road and walk down to the beach. Walk along the beach until you come to the hiker sign pointing back into the woods, then hike thru the woods back to the parking lot. Our walk along the beach was complicated by downed trees that we had to climb over because it was high tide, Soaringeagle managed with his cane, so not too difficult. We hiked a bit further, to the next trail sign for the Bearberry trail turnoff, then back along the beach to our turnoff. This was a quiet and fun little walk, along a salt marsh, at low tide it is mudflats and part of the Willipa Bay wildlife refuge. We did see deer scat and coyote tracks along the edge, but no ducks or birds close in enough to ID. The woods walk was fun, a true coastal flat forest with some plants not normally seen except on the coast. Evergreen huckleberry, wax myrtle, Sitka spruce and shore pine. Shore pine is the same species as Lodgepole pine, but a different variety. My book calls it Pinus contorta var. contorta, but I learned it in plant ID as P. contorta latifolia, so not sure of botanical. Also, lots of bearberry, salal, sword fern alder and moss everywhere. On the way back out, we stopped at the first parking lot right after the sign and walked down to the beach for lunch, look on the left for a great lunch log. Sitting there we finally got some wildlife, an otter! Be sure and get some oysters while visiting, we stopped at a local place and got some right out of the smoker! 

True to the signs that say to trails subject to flooding on trails October - May, the Dunes trail was flooded extensively with no obvious bypass that wouldn't require bushwhacking about 1/4 mile from the south parking lot trail head.  The short section was worth the walk.  The snow blanketing the salal and other shrubs and trees was beautiful.  The chatter of the forest birds was a pleasure to listen to.  And no one else was on the trail.

The section of the Dunes trail from the north parking area to the south parking area along the bay was very wet and muddy in places, driving us to walk on the beach plants instead of the trail in places.  There were sections that were covered by frozen sea foam that was really weird to walk through - deeper and fluffier than the snow around.  The shore birds were a delight to watch and listen to.  The aerial acrobatics of the flocks and the color shifting with their direction changes is always a delight.  The chatter of birds along the shore was a different sound than the forest chatter.

Bay Loop Trail - Walking along the beach section was spectacular, if a little chilly with the biting wind and snow.  About 50 yards from where the trail leaves the beach and heads along the edge of the forest, the trail was flooded.  Again, there was no obvious way around without bushwhacking and damaging the plants.  

A pair of eagles was hanging out in a tree right by the north parking lot.  Being checked out by an eagle is quite a treat.  

The road in was compact snow.  It was fine to drive on and worked fine for walking on too.  A few other cars were seen.

Has anyone asked Washington State Parks about changing the name from Leadbetter, a confederate general and plantation owner, to something more appropriate?  https://www.chinookobserver.com/opinion/editorial-leadbetter-name-change-long-overdue/article_88a7f4ba-d383-11ea-8891-b7ee8f3f8751.html

Parked in the main lot as far in as you can drive. Hiked through to the bay side, and walked north along the bay and crossed the park via the Bearberry Trail to the ocean side, then returned the same way. Originally was going to walk the beach to get to the Weather(?) trail to head back to the parking lot, but the beach/dunes are closed in that area due to plover nests. I didn’t see any signs about this beforehand, so it was a tiny bit disappointing not to be able to do a loop.

The trail is dry but the mosquitos are already quite bad primarily through the rainforest portions. Overall a nice hike/walk, but nothing special.

The trail is dry and overgrown. There are 3-4 large downed trees in the southwest portion of the trail and 3 downed trees on the beach portion.

We began in the farthest parking lot, hoping to take the Weather Beach trail to the beach, but were stopped by standing water and mud across the trail. Then attempted the Dune Forest Loop. completing much of the trail through trees and salal, with an occasional surprised bird taking off in the brush nearby. We came to a park sign, where someone had scrawled a trip report dated 6 weeks earlier. "UNPASSABLE SWAMP" they scratched into the paint. "NO WAY" they said. Well, surely it has dried out by now? No such luck, and we ended up turning and going back the way we came. Still a nice day to wander the trees and brush of the dunes. Move quickly to avoid the bugs!