Olympia, Dogs, Beaches (Lacey, University Place, Aberdeen: houses, find a job, university)

[poonchang]

Hi,

I am interested in moving to the Olympia area and soon I will be up there to scout a place to live and work. I am planning to get up there for a week, or so, this month from Reno. I have 2 dogs, mutts ( a stout little 50 lb rott mix and and lab mix) and I would like to take them to the beaches in the area. A couple things I would like to know:

1) Are dogs allowed in the parks and on beaches?

2) Are ALL the beaches and shoreline open to the public and my doggies?

I know these are silly questions but I just want to make sure. The reading I have done did not indicate that dogs were banned from anywhere as long as they are leashed. I would like to take the dogs to Priest Point Park and walk along the beach. Looking at aerial photos, the peninsula area to the north/northeast of Olympia is one long beach...miles of it. There are also a lot houses, too. Would I be trespassing if I decided to just keep walking on a beach? Other spots?

If you have any alternatives, suggestions, or tips I might be able to use on my little adventure, Please share!

Thanks

[poonchang]

I wish I was up there right now!

Low tides expose a marine wonderland - South Sound - The Olympian - Olympia, Washington (broken link)

Published June 13, 2007

Low tides expose a marine wonderland




South Sound teems with weird, interesting animals, but many hide in the depths most of the year.

That changes this week, as extremely low tides will expose parts of South Sound usually underwater. The extreme low — and high — tides happen each year as the summer solstice approaches. This year’s solstice is June 21.

The next few days, especially the weekend, will have low tides in the middle of the day, offering residents a chance to take a walk on the weird side of South Sound.

Where to go

Start your adventure anywhere you can get onto a Puget Sound beach and avoid deep, sticky mud. Burfoot Park, Priest Point Park, Tolmie State Park, Frye Cove County Park and Potlatch State Park are good spots.

Burfoot Park’s beach is rocky and perhaps the safest to explore. The water level keeps falling, uncovering crabs, shrimp, sea stars, aquatic worms, moon snails, clams, geoduck siphons and other marine animals. Burfoot Park is 6 miles from Olympia on Boston Harbor Road. Priest Point Park also is on Boston Harbor Road. Frye Cove County Park is on Eld Inlet, and Potlatch State Park is on Hood Canal. Tolmie State Park is on the Nisqually Reach north of Lacey.

When to go

Today’s low tide is at 11:42 a.m., Friday’s is at 12:28 p.m., Saturday’s is at 1:13 p.m. and Sunday’s is at 1:59 p.m. It’s good to get to the beach an hour or so before low tide so you can follow the waterline out. Don’t forget to start heading back when the water levels begin to rise. Thursday’s water level will climb 19.5 feet from low to high tide.

Finding critters

If you dig, do so carefully, replace the animal in the hole and fill the hole back up again. Many beachcombers are content to see, and perhaps photograph, what is crawling, scuttling and oozing over the rocky mud. Don’t eat the shellfish in Budd Inlet; they are contaminated with pollutants.

Staying safe

Stay on the trails when you hike to the beach, as many parks harbor nasty stands of poison oak. Don’t let children go barefoot on the beach, as there are many sharp shells. Mud can trap you; rocky beaches are much safer and have plenty of marine life.

Gear you’ll need

Lug along rain gear — it keeps your clothes clean even if it’s sunny — sturdy shoes that can get muddy, rubber boots or waders, walking sticks, water, snacks, camera and binoculars. Shellfish- and bird-identification guides come in handy.

More information

Call Thurston County Parks and Recreation at 360-786-5595 or go to Thurston County Parks & Recreation. For more information about local tides, go to Thurston County's Homepage - The Olympian - Olympia, Washington or www.saltwatertides.com.

Chester Allen, The Olympian

Wow!

[bmsea]

Washington beaches are very dog friendly. Most of the Beaches in SW Washington are state highways (you can drive on them), and dogs are allowed as long as you pick up after them and keep them leashed. However, a lot of people use it as a big off-leash area, and as long as they are well behaved, its not a problem (there aren't a lot of people, anyway).

I am one of those believers in keeping dogs on leashes, because you just never know how they are going to react to something. We had one incident where a normally friendly rottweiler chewed up a smaller dog on the concrete path here in Westport. That was the only instance I'd heard of something like that happening.

But anyway, back to the topic, I think Washington beaches are very dog friendly.

Enjoy!

[Sandy Nelson]

Priest Point Park is a great place to walk your dogs. It's my dog's favorite park. The signs ask that you leash you dog and the city even provides dispensers with poop baggies. Pioneer Park is another great park to walk your dogs. The Deschutes river runs through it and the water is shallow enough in most places for the dogs to walk across. I find Olympia to be a very dog friendly town. The Olympia pet parade is an event not to be missed. Check it out, if you're in town.
Welcome to Olympia!

Sandy

[CADRMNDANES]

Good to know. We are checking out this area also. We raise and show great danes.

[Balco9]

With that siad, where are the offleash beaches and parks in that area, or the University Place area. I have a chocolate lab who loves everyone and listens to voice commands when offleash. Certain dogs should be always leashed...
My lab is offleash 95% of the time where ever i go to the beach at Westport.
He loves to retrieve in the ocean. Dogs need their quality of life and exercise just like humans.

[poonchang]

Update:

Thanks for responding; I didn't think anyone was interested in my thread.

Anyway, I took my little road trip 2 months ago (at the end of June). From what I understand from reading other posts, I think I hit a window of good weather for the area. I stayed for 3-4 days and it only rained on the last day, lol. I did a lot of driving around trying to get a "feel" for the place, drank lots of coffee, and manged to talk to a few people (its easier when you have a couple of dogs with you).

Here's a cool little house:



I went to Priest Point park and explored the trails. Gorgoeous. It was morning and low tide. I think I got my hopes up too high concerning the Puget Sound (Budd Inlet). It was a lot smaller than I thought it would be and the warning signs that tell you not to eat the shellfish kind of broke my heart. However, we still had fun.

Most people seemed cool and friendly enough. I didn't see the droves of homeless I keep reading about, but I wasn't there that long and I probably just missed them. I camped out at Millersylvania State Park. This was my first time camping on public campgrounds. I hated it! It's just me, though. I'm used to camping in remote places where you had the feeling that you were the last person on Earth. I wasn't very comfortable camping 30 feet away from RVs and people watching TV.

I couldn't tell Lacey from from Olympia other than I guess that Lacey had newer stores and was more spread out? I don't know. I also drove up to Shelton turned around and left. There was a lot of people just standing around, lots of kids walking around, and everyone looked so bored. In all fairness, I never gave Shelton a chance.

My favorite part of the trip was to the coast. The few people I ran across seemed really friendly and considerate in Aberdeen/Hoquiam. I drove up the coast a way and found this awesome beach. I don't recall the name of it, but I think it bordered an Indian reservation. If you know the name, could you please share it? Here are some pics:








I just loved the coastal area; very beautiful. Also thought that all the tsunami evacuation signs were interesting lol. I actually think I prefer Aberdeen to Olympia just because it is closer to the coast. However, Olympia isn't too far away and, from what I've read, it would probably be easier to find a job in Oly. Everything was so green and lush in the entire region of western WA; I was overwhelmed, intoxicated.

All in all, I really enjoyed my little trip. Everything wasn't as expected (never is, right?) and I really didn't spend enough time to get a TRUE "feeling" of the area, but I think I could be happy there. We'll see, only one way to find out...