Twanoh State Park, Washington

August 26-27, 2012

On the first day of our trip to the Olympic Peninsula, we drove as far as the Hood Canal (map), which is a fjord off Puget Sound. From Highway 101, we took Highway 106 east along the southern leg -- a beautiful drive. We stopped at Twanoh State Park for the night.

 

 

It was a quiet little park on a Sunday night, across the road from the day use beach area. Spacious sites, showers... very nice.

It was dinnertime when we arrived, and rain clouds were approaching fast. So after a quick stroll along the beach, we wolfed down some chili dogs, set up Bailey's tent with a tarp for the rain, and settled in for a cozy evening listening to the patter of rain.

Rain stopped by morning, and Bailey and I went on the nature trail, which was a nice 2 or 3 mile loop.

 

After breakfast, we packed up and headed back to Highway 101 to explore more of the peninsula. We took a road up to Lake Cushman, which is a large, beautiful lake. We stopped at the Lake Cushman Resort and would have stayed the night if the empty campsite right on the lake hadn't been reserved. (The other sites were much less impressive.) We continued on to the Skokomish Park (which used to be Lake Cushman State Park before it was deeded to the Skokomish tribe last year). It had very nice wooded sites, but very shaded and not right on the lake. So after a picnic in a private cove, we continued up Highway 101 until we found Doswallips State Park.

Olympic Peninsula Trip