Beach Walking...A Fun Pathway!

Michelle Burkheimer
Sep 12, 2016
2 min read

You can find wonderful photos if you venture onto beaches, whether you are looking for a tiny shell, logs piled into “structures”, or critters watching you along the pathways leading to the beach.

We recently visited San Juan Island in Washington State and took a delightful hike out to the Cattle Point Lighthouse and made our way to the beautiful log-filled beaches in the San Juan Island National Historical Park.

"The Cattle Point Natural Resources Conservation Area (NRCA) consists of two waterfront parcels at the south end of San Juan Island. At only 112 acres, the NRCA provides a diverse range of geologic features, plant communities and wildlife habitat. The largest portion of the NRCA extends across the tip of the island from the Strait of Juan de Fuca, over the Mount Finlayson ridge and into Griffin Bay. A second parcel bookends the U.S. Coast Guard lighthouse and includes an interpretive center in an historic building. Adjacent to the western edge of the conservation area is the San Juan Island National Historical Park “American Camp” unit. At Cattle Point NRCA, visitors will find grasslands, gravelly beach, dunes, a mature conifer forest and steep bluffs." Washington State Department of Natural Resources

American Camp is part of the San Juan Island National Historical Park (Maps are from the Park site) and is on the road to Cattle Point. This southern section of the National Park offers great beach walking at South Beach. There are so few beaches left that have years and years of log collections. This is one of the finest places to build amazing forts and sculptures out of the weather worn logs!

The creativity of people that have walked these beaches offer so many fun things to photograph!

This old root has been bleached and weathered so beautifully...it has a wonderful character of its own!

Beaches offer such wonderful subjects to photograph...you never know what you might find when you roll over a rock! You better have your camera ready to capture a picture of a scampering crab! Don't worry, they are so tiny, they won't bite, but you will definitely laugh if you pick them up because they will tickle your hand!

To get to the wonderful beaches of San Juan Island, you can catch a Washington State Ferry out of Anacortes to Friday Harbor. It is really easy to reserve space for your car on the Ferry, which will allow you a convenient way to explore all the lovely areas of the island. Summer is always the most popular time to visit the islands, but the fall is really wonderful...less crowds, warm days and chilled evenings to give you a real experience of the changing seasons.

...And you never know who will be watching you!

When your day comes to a close, I would really recommend that you reserve a night at the De Haro Hotel in historic Roche Harbor on the northwest of the island, Year round, this lovely resort and marina offers some of the most spectacular views and sunsets you can find anywhere in the Pacific Northwest. Your trip would not be a complete experience without spending a night "on island time"!