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.
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