Sand Point Camp Area — Olympic National Park

This is one of several very rustic dispersed campsites along a ruggedly beautiful stretch of Washington coast that are accessible only by hiking in. You’re set back only a few feet from the rocky beach and therefore exposed to weather coming off the ocean, so be sure to plan accordingly with tent, tarp and appropriate clothing. You have to register/reserve through the Port Angeles ranger station so you can’t just show up and camp. There’s a triangle trail from Ozette trailhead, so you can hike to Cape Alava and go south, and then return by going down to Sand Point and inland, or vice versa.

> We packed up late on a Friday evening to make the trek to the Ozette Loop on the northern coast of Washington state, roughly a 4.5 hour drive from Seattle.

> After spending the night in Sequim with family we headed out Saturday morning of Labor Day weekend, arriving at the Port Angeles Wilderness information center a little before 10am. Our timing was a huge mistake as we should have been waiting when the doors opened at 8am. We had a reservation form that we needed to turn in for a permit, and we waited in line for an hour to make that transaction. I have never spent so much time in a ranger station. I did meet a nice gal in line named Liz and we chatted our way through the hour.

> We arrived at the packed out trailhead; located there is a restroom, the trailhead sign and need to know info, an informational kiosk about the parks origins, and a water station (IMPORTANT all the local rivers/ streams have dried up at this time Sept. 2017 and you must hike back to obtain water from this point).

> To begin the trail you cross a beautiful lichen covered, wooden bridge with a view of Ozette Lake before heading into the woods to choose your path to the coast. Shortly you come to a split in the trail with options to Sand Point or Cape Alva. We had reservations at Sand Point and the tides were against us so we headed straight for camp instead of making the entire 9 mile loop.

> The Sand Point Trail is an easy 3 miles of boardwalks out to the coast with little inclination. (Note, boardwalks are slick as snot when wet.) We camped in hammocks so the ranger suggested we head north up the coast upon arriving at the beach to find a spot that would accommodate us.

> We found an amazing spot! Driftwood stairs led off the beach through the seagrass and into a clearing which was perfect to hang our hammocks and, to make things even better there was a mini driftwood wall built up making a camp kitchen with bench and flat stump for your stove. Surrounding the camp are 5' to 15' tall Salah berry bushes making the camp cozy and private. Our only seen neighbors were the squirrels and chipmunks and passing birds.

> We spent our first evening mesmerized by the seals on the rocks out in front of our camp and the eagles and blue herons flying overhead. We became the paparazzi of the tide pools, endlessly searching the beach for the black bear the ranger had reports of being seen on the beach this morning.

> Sadly, we knew we would be retiring early this evening as we could see the fog rolling in over the Pacific and it slowly engulfed our camp. In typical Pacific Ocean fashion it quickly became wet and windy, so off to bed we went.

> As the fog began to clear the following morning we had breakfast and packed up every water container we had to make the trek back to the trailhead for more water.

> The day was hot and muggy and we had missed the low tide again, and our chance to head up the beach to Wedding Rocks to view the petroglyphs carved into the rocks along the beach. So instead we napped in our hammocks with the gentle sway of the breeze rocking us to sleep.

> We awoke in time for an afternoon beach stroll. While walking the beach we talked to a few parents who promised to go home and burn the books that told them the trails were easy for children, as they carried their tired children off the rocky beach. They said the strip of beach between Sand Point and Cape Alva is a deep pebble covered beach, littered in giant rocks and driftwood one must scramble over and under with a lack of real trail. Needless to say they said it was rough with young children in tow.

> Our second evening in camp we witnessed the most epic coastal sunset to date! It painted the sky in shades of yellows and pinks melting into intense reds and purples. It was magical!

> The following day promised to be hot, so we packed up early and walked back out the Sand Point trail virtually alone with the suns first rays just hitting the trail.

> The trip to this stretch of magical coast is a long one at 4.5 hours, with crappy wait times at busy ranger stations but it was worth it. The amazing sunsets, coastal wildlife, private beach camps and a chance to see the petroglyphs or milky way (on a dark night) make this a to-do on your bucket list!