Stopped in while taking a drive along the Key Peninsula Highway. There is a day use fee of $10 or a…read morevalid Discovery Pass. We were just passing through and wanted to take our pups out to potty, so we parked in the 15-minute/no fee required parking area. That also gave us enough time to walk down on the dock and take in the gorgeous view! Staff was friendly. They really do a nice job of keeping the park clean. There are quite a few picnic tables available, and there's a family picnic area with a BBQ. There are a few life jackets available for use down by the dock as well. We didn't use the restrooms, but they were open and available. We enjoyed our short visit here. Would recommend.

We enjoyed this little beach area a lot on our day trip out on the peninsula from Tacoma. They had…read more A water spigot and toilets (non-flushable). There were a bunch of tiny crabs all in the rocks, herons on the dock, and jellyfish in the water. It was pretty clean with a boat launch and again, it was puppy approved.

The Les Davis Pier is an old wooden pier located along the Ruston Way Waterfront!…read more The birds love this pier, there were so many here it was unbelievable!! I also saw a few people here fishing. You also get great views of Commencement Bay and Browns Point here!! The parking lot is decently sized, and the restrooms here were super clean, they were steam cleaning them when i came!! I park here to get my runs in when I'm in Tacoma, it's located pretty much in the middle between Downtown Tacoma and Point Defiance!!! Definitely a nice place along the waterfront!!

A really lovely spot along Commencement Bay as you head towards Point Defiance from Tacoma. It is a…read moreGrade A fishing pier complete with covered overhangs and benches. Even instructions for different types of fishing. On a clear Winter day, the views were beautiful... to the left towards Puget Sound. Looking back towards Tacoma was not so pretty. A trail extends all along Marine Park for miles and it was lovely to see people out running, biking and walking dogs in this gorgeous area. Another nice little attraction is Fireboat No. 1 (a National Historic Monument) which adjoins the pier. We saw another active fireboat in the bay that day, so it completed a very pretty picture.

Easy to find off I-5, Harry Todd Park is on the civilian side of American Lake. With bathrooms,…read morepicnic tables, playground, covered areas, and fishing pier- my kids and I went for fishing and playground. Didn't catch any fish but saw a couple folks who did, the fishing pier was easy and not too crowded (though not empty either on a Saturday). Playground was nice though the park had a lot of trash on the ground. Seems to be a place where folks know they can have a cookout for a bigger group. At least 2 groups were meeting up and had staked a claim on parts of the green space early. There is a decent sized parking lot with handicapped parking a lot closer. There's also a beach for swimming but not for me today (too cold!).

What a beautiful lake! Bring the whole family, fire up the BBQ, and enjoy a fun day together!read more

Jacob's Point is a small preserve on Anderson Island with a 3 mile walking path that illustrates…read moreboth the beauty and the history of the island. There are many stops along the path, mostly to see the Puget Sound and Mount Rainer in the background. I'm always impressed with Mount Rainer because it seems to poke out of the skyline from nowhere. There are certainly Cascade Mountains that border Mount Rainer, but they are not nearly as high and nor are they visible unless you head towards the mountains. There is one stop showing the remnants of one of the first homesteads on the island. The only thing left is the brick chimney. Apparently, it was a hay farm for a few years before the family moved off the island to find work elsewhere. I can't imagine how hard it would've been to have a hay farm on the island. You would essentially have to provide all the food for yourself and figure out how to transport your hay to market. The most interesting part of the trail was the old brickyard. The mud in the area provided good brickmaking material and the cove on the Puget Sound enabled the brickmaker to ship the heavy bricks to buyers elsewhere. Initially, it didn't make sense to me to have a heavy brickmaking facility on a hard to reach island but if your mode of transport is feet away from the facility, it makes more sense. The boats would float into the cove during high tide before settling on to supports at low tide. At that time, they could fill the boat with bricks. The boat would raise off the supports at high tide and head to market. For someone like myself who grew up in the Midwest, it was interesting to see how businesses could use the tides to their advantage. Unfortunately for this particular brickmaking company, the brick market collapsed a few years after they started operation and were forced to shut down.

Although you can map the GPS coordinates, there is no precise address for the park entrance. From…read morethe ferry dock, take Yoman Road south, then when it turns into Eckenstam - Johnson Road (keep left at the Y-intersection) continue south. It's about 2.7-3.2 miles from the dock, depending on how you map it, with the trailhead and small parking lot with signage on the left. Anderson Island is worth a trip just to visit this pretty little trail. It begins by winding through a marsh on a boardwalk, then proceeds through open woods to the chimney and the site of the Jacob family pioneer family. From there, the trail leads to a clean, waterless composting pit toilet. and to some cutbanks overlooking the south side of Oro Bay. At low tide you can explore the kelp-y, pebbly beaches. I heard tell of a sea cave (also mentioned on park websites), but I did not see it for myself. I did however see the sea. The website also warns of being trapped by "sucking mud" and the tides. Certainly, when the tides are coming it, be sure to know where you got down to the beach and keep it in sight, as the banks are steep all around and access points are limited. Even if the tide is in, the end of the point features a stunning view of Mt. Rainier, shining bright, or reflecting brightly, rather. The trail is mostly level with a few bumps, well maintained, and easy to follow.

My parents have a house on this island. The state park is fun to visit with your family and always…read morevery lush n I matter what time of year. There's plenty of exploring to do on the island and lots of small local businesses and farms on the island for fresh organic food. There's also a small market on the island.

Harstine Island State Park is a large, forested state park that borders the Puget Sound. My wife…read moreand I ventured on one of the trails with the hope of finding the Puget Sound and potentially a fishing spot. The trail appeared to be much longer than anticipated to reach the water or we had simply walked down the wrong path. I have ventured down a number of these paths with a fishing rod in hand only to find no viable fishing spot along the route, but that is the definition of exploring, you will not know until you try. There was a warning sign of a cougar sighting in the area at the trailhead. This was the first of many postings about cougars that we saw at future trailheads. Each warning sign generally has a picture of a cougar, the last time it was seen in the area, and defensive strategies if you ever encountered one. One would think that bear spray would be the easiest line of defense, but we haven't seen that referenced in the postings, probably because most hikers don't carry it. I haven't seen a wild cougar yet, and I don't think I will unless a cougar, a master stealth hunter, sees me first and wants to show his face.

Follow the main roads through the island and you end up here at the fishing pier. Good amount of…read moreparking with stairs and a wheelchair ramp to get you down to the pier. Beach access available, follow the sign. Great view of the surrounding area!! Fox Island really doesn't have anything unless you're visiting someone, but either way it's a lovely place.

Nice pier. Great place to view Orcas, porpoises, and eagles. Sometimes there's decent dogfish shark…read morefishing.

Centrally located on beautiful Ruston way, this wide dock isn't just for fishermen. New bathrooms…read moreand parking immediately near by. Panorama view of the sound and back drops of our mountain ranges. Seating and lights accommodate for leisure on the water at all time of the day (or night). Look out for sea life and cute marine creatures, great spot for bird watching, too. Simply gorgeous. :) There are bearable irritants, as with any public space. ADD affected preteens racing up and down the dock on bikes un-alert and unattended... Tobacco lung exhaust, noise, dogs with leashes dangling behind with no human attached getting all up in your business... just the usual things we must all tolerate.

This is one of the really cool features that you find as you stroll along Ruston Way. This dock is…read morepretty much straight down the road to Ruston Way from the Old Town neighborhood. I have seen fisherman fish off of this dock and a friend of mine comes here during certain fishing seasons to fish here at night. I think that is when they are fishing for squid. But for me I come here for the purpose of the view only and it is a great view of Puget Sound, The Port of Tacoma and the surrounding area. Most times it's clear enough you can see Brown's Point and Vashon Island. The last time I was here I believe there were some seals beached at the very end of the dock. It was gated off so people could not interfere as they chill out and sun bathe. It was still a really cool thing to see. That is also a cool site to see. Sometimes you can see jellyfish and the Harbor Seals in the water. Sometimes the seals really want to show off and you can get quite a show if they are in a playful mood when you are on this dock. But since we are dealing with wildlife here it's all a matter of being there at the right place and at the right time.

This is one of the great places to stop along the Ruston Way Waterfront! Jack Hyde park has some…read moregrass areas with a good amount of benches so you can stop and soak in the beauty that Commencement Bay has to offer! There's a beach area and seems to be a somewhat popular launch point for swimmers. Personally speaking, I almost always start on the other side of the waterfront so Jack Hyde is one of the last stops along the trail. The Chinese Reconciliation Park is right next door, or you can get off of the water and go into the Old Town area of Tacoma. Lots of cute little shops and beautiful architecture to be seen there!

Beautiful spot to stretch your legs, hop all across the massive rocks, listen to the chirping sea…read morebirds, and dip your feet in the Sound, if you wish. The nearby trains are noisy, but otherwise this is a peaceful, breezy spot to enjoy a light walk and a picnic. The view is spectacular.