Arrived at the parking lot at around 12:30 so we were lucky to have found a spot to park. The parking lot is pretty spacious so it should be easier to find a spot if we had gotten their an hour earlier or so. 

The trail is pretty muddy so hiking boots recommended/water proof shoes. The trail is mostly muddy and wet but nearing the beach is a bridge and the trail becomes gravel so it gets dry. Super windy day today but the beach had like 3-4 groups of people.

 There is also a bridge under train tracks and we saw a train pass through. Beautiful view of the ocean, easy short hike.

Got there early on a Saturday morning, shortly before sunrise, to an empty parking lot. The trail was wet, but not slippery, and there were only a few muddy puddles that I had to go around. Took about 15 minutes to get down to the beach.

The beach was nice, only saw about 3 other people in the hour I was there (the trail was busier than the beach). A lot of crows, one heron, some mallards, and a few sea gulls. Briefly saw a harbor seal in the water but it soon disappeared. The Olympics were visible but had a deep cloud bank over them. A nice morning with a good view.

A train came though, ruining the peacefulness for a couple of minutes, but that is to be expected. A nice short little hike with a view.

Gate to trailhead was open. Beautiful day. Trail was a little muddy in some spots but not bad lots of leaves.

This report is part a scouting visit in preparation for a WTA work party planned for this winter.   It was my first visit to this county park.   It is located between Lynwood and Edmonds.   The upper parking lot has about 30 spaces with about 5 cars this morning at 9:00am.   There is a port-a-potty at both the upper and lower parking lot.   

This is a very popular trail for the dog walking crowd and social time down to the beach.   I measured the beach trail as 1.3 miles down with a 400’ elevation change.   It is a wide crushed gravel path that follows the creek down to the beach.    There are several benches along the path if you want to break up the walk.   There are a section of box steps along the steepest section, about 1/3 of the way down.   

The trail is in very good shape.   It is an easy walk down to the beachside.  Passing under the railroad tracks, the path ends at a rocky beach with several picnic tables and logs to watch for any activity in the sound.  I enjoyed a short walk along the beach before heading back up to the upper lot.  There is a bottom parking lot but all seven spaces are marked as handicap only.   

Would this trail benefit from maintenance?   Yes, the main issue is erosion from water runoff.  Too few drains, malfunctioning water bars, and inclines going down the fall line of the gorge.  The trail is beginning to erode in sections due to water flowing downhill in the middle of the path.   The good news is that these issues can be addressed with gravel, new water bars, and a volunteer work crew.   Our scouting reports provide the data for WTA to work with the landowner to address outstanding issues based on identifying the most serious problems and agreeing on a work plan.  
And now to lunch.  

Beautiful and serene