Pacific Beach State Park

Pacific Beach State Park

Thursday, September 12 Through Monday, September 16, 2019

Getting to Pacific Beach State Park turned out harder than expected even though  the shorter route with less traffic was taken instead of the longer more congested one.

Port Angeles KOA Journey To Pacific Beach State Park
Port Angeles KOA Journey To Pacific Beach State Park

The route went west from Port Angeles to Forks along US-101.   It was raining.  The first challenge was getting past Lake Crescent, a cold, blue, clear and deep glacially-carved lake inside the Olympic National Park.  This amazingly winding side to side, up and down road careens along the incredibly steep slopes of the shoreline.  While the road has some awesome beautiful scenic pullouts, it also has some hairpin narrow corners.  To add even more fun to the driving mix, loaded and unloaded logging trucks commonly drive over the speed limit.  They tailgate.  However, to the logging truck drivers’ credit, they stay in their lane.  It is just unnerving.

In Forks, we stopped for fuel.  Linda went into the gas station and asked where the bathrooms were.  The smirking woman at the desk pointed to the portable toilets outside.  Not the best customer experience.

Just south of forks, the highway runs south along the windward side of Bogachiel and Hoh Rain Forests.

Raining On The Windward Side Of Bogachiel Rain Forest
Raining On The Windward Side Of Bogachiel Rain Forest

On the windward side of the temperate rain forests, it rained buckets.  The kind of rain where the truck hydroplaned on the road through the puddles.  We slowed down.

The rain let up before Humptulips.  A few miles further south, a right turn to Moclips dropped us on the coast just north of Pacific Beach.  Pacific Beach is a small town on the Pacific Ocean with a Washington State Park between the town and a magnificent pristine beach.

Looking North Along Pacific Beach
Looking North Along Pacific Beach

The campground can easily be seen from the beach.

Campground Seen From Beach
Campground Seen From Beach

Park visitors engage in a number of activities.  Making sand castles is still popular.

Sandcastles With Campground In Background (Left)
Sandcastles With Campground In Background (Left)

Long walks on the beach are rewarding.

Looking North Through Mist And Fog
Looking North Through Mist And Fog

Watching the waves roll in is soothing.

Watching The Waves Roll In With The Fog
Watching The Waves Roll In With The Fog

Watching a child experience the ocean’s majesty for the first time and dancing for joy recalls memories.

First Ocean Experience?
First Ocean Experience?

Making footprints in the sand.

Crabshell And Footprints
Crab Shell And Footprints

Beach explorers find driftwood and seagulls.

Driftwood and Seagulls
Driftwood and Seagulls

Twisty things.

Fish Swinging In The Breeze
Fish Swinging In The Breeze

Twirly things.

Colorful Twirling Things
Colorful Twirling Things

Kites flying high in the ocean breezes.

Flying Kite, Waiting For Sunset
Flying Kite, Waiting For Sunset

Brown pelicans.

Brown Pelican
Brown Pelican

Ever present seagulls.

Seagull
Seagull

Even more seagulls just hanging out.

Seagulls Supervising Sandcastle Construction
Seagulls Supervising Sandcastle Construction

Crows and ravens making a nuisance of themselves.

Crow
Crow

In addition to chipmunks, there were plenty of snails coming and going.

Snail
Snail

Some snails crossed the road one too many times.

Snail Sporting Shell Damage
Snail Sporting Shell Damage

Pacific Beach State Park isn’t a large park but it is nice despite the relative lack of services.

Pacific Beach State Park
Pacific Beach State Park

After arriving in the afternoon, we setup camp.  The weather was relatively nice.  Cloudy and no rain.

Pacific Beach State Park Campsite
Pacific Beach State Park Campsite

Some of the campsites, like this one, are electric only. No water or sewer.  Other sites are boondocking sites.  Water is not provided at any of the campsites.  A few non-threaded water spigots are in the campground.  A line often forms at the dump station where campers can dump tanks and take on potable water.

Pacific Beach State Park Ranger Station
Pacific Beach State Park Ranger Station

Park showers required tokens that could only be purchased at the ranger station.

Token Machine
Token Machine

Four tokens provide 12 minutes of shower time.  Two people for four nights.  $16.00 for showers.

Shower Tokens
Shower Tokens

Fortunately, we bought more tokens than we thought we needed.  One of the showers’ coin machine jammed and wouldn’t deliver.  Lost two tokens.  Left the park with a single token.

Pacific Beach State Park Campsite
Pacific Beach State Park Campsite

When it rained, which was much of the time, the campsite flooded.  The park roads flooded in places.  Water mostly drained off after twelve plus hours without rain.

Campground After A Night Of Rain
Campground After A Night Of Rain

Thursday afternoon the day we arrived, park employees were cleaning out the bathrooms with a gas powered pressure washer.  Turns out, the pressure washer is a quick way to remove all the sand and other cruft off the floors and walls.  The washroom facilities were acceptible.  When we left the park, we left without emptying tanks.

Cottages and Houses Border Pacific Beach State Park
Cottages, Condos and Houses Border Pacific Beach State Park

The town of Pacific Beach is inseparable from the park.  Cottages and houses border the park.  Some are available for short term rentals.  Second Street ends at Main where the gas station and convenience store is located.

For the past twenty years or so, the offspring of my maternal grandmother have gathered in town for family reunions.  I’ve done day use in this park many times to walk the beach with my siblings and cousins.

I like this park.  The people who camp here and/or use the beach are generally genuinely nice.  While it might be nice if the park had full hookups, don’t let the lack of services become a distraction.  The people and the beach more than make up for any shortcomings in facilities.

Hope to see you on the road ahead!

 

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