Willapa National Wildlife Refuge

Long Island is the largest estuarine island on the Pacific coast, and near its southern end grows a stand of old-growth western red cedar that escaped the logging that took nearly everything like it. The trees are enormous and impossibly old, their trunks fluted and mossy, some rooted in the ground for more than a thousand years. Walking among them, on a trail of roughly two and a half miles from the old ferry landing, feels like stepping backward through time.

There is no bridge and no scheduled boat to Long Island. Visitors cross the narrow tidal channel in their own canoe, kayak, or small boat, timing it to the tides, which run strong through the shallow water. That effort is exactly why the grove stays so peaceful, and why the crossing should be planned carefully rather than improvised.

On the mainland, the refuge holds a remarkable variety of country in a small space. There are salt marshes that flood and drain with the tide, broad mudflats alive with clams and worms, freshwater wetlands, coastal dunes, and stretches of quiet beach. Each supports its own community of plants and animals, and the seams between them are where the wildlife concentrates.

Trails and access points let you sample this mosaic without a boat. Short paths lead through spruce and cedar forest, out to marsh overlooks, and along the bay, and the Leadbetter Point unit at the tip of the peninsula offers dune and beach walking where the ocean and the bay nearly meet.

The bay's tideflats are a critical stop on the Pacific Flyway, and in spring and fall they fill with shorebirds resting and feeding on their long migrations, sometimes in flocks so large they move like smoke over the water. Winter brings ducks, geese, and swans in great numbers, along with the raptors that follow them.

The forests and marshes hold their own residents year round. Roosevelt elk browse the edges of the meadows, black bears work the berry patches, and bald eagles nest in the tall trees. Along the shore you may find harbor seals hauled out and, in the water, salmon moving through on their way to the refuge's clean streams.

Because the refuge is scattered in units around the bay, a little planning goes a long way. The mainland headquarters along Highway 101 is a good first stop for maps and current conditions, and from there you can choose among short forest and marsh trails, the dune and beach country at Leadbetter Point, or, for the well prepared, the boat crossing to Long Island and its cedars.

Tides govern almost everything here. They set when the flats fill with birds, when a boat crossing is safe, and where you can walk, so a tide table is as important as a trail map. Come dressed for mud and rain in nearly any season, and give yourself unhurried time, because this is a place that reveals itself slowly, on its own schedule.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.