With school back in, the boys and I are back to visiting beaches to find more access points on Whidbey Island. Ledgewood Beach County Park is a tiny access area that if you didn’t look it up, you’d not know it is there. I drive by the Ledgewood housing development area far too often, and have never driven in. I had an errand there this morning, so we checked out the beach.
To find:
On Hwy 525 turn onto Ledgewood Beach Road. I was coming north on the hwy, so it was a left hand turn. It’s a couple miles north of Greenbank. Drive down Ledgewood Beach Rd until it turns to the right and becomes Fircrest Ave. Take a left onto East Seaward Way. The road narrows here and is steep. It ends at Driftwood Way, take a left, it’s a tight turn. This road heads down steeply and is more narrow than before. Totally fine road for my EV car, but if in a huge pickup keep that in mind. As you reach the bottom, you will see to your left a parking area about the size of the house that sits next to it. Turn into it and park. I always tread quietly to not make the people living nearby angry. Parking and use is free, as with all the county parks in Island County.
The park is in a small slot, as all the beach county parks are here. The park sits on a low bluff above the water. Someone has put out various lawn chairs to enjoy the view. A really cute touch!
To get down to the beach, there is a “trail” that goes straight down. A very much appreciated metal railing is installed to give you confidence you won’t slide to the bottom. The top half is a straight cut path, downhill. The lower half is wood steps and rocks to step on.
The beach of course isn’t long. But if you stay below high tide line and are a good user, you can walk the beach. The houses here are on bluffs, not “no bank” so are not on top of the beach. This gives a more remote feeling.
Looking up the beach, across Admiralty Bay. The low area on the upper left is Camp Casey. You can see all the way to Fort Casey State Park and the Coupeville Ferry dock.
It was actually very cold on the beach being it was 9 am and in the shade. Low tide as the full moon is this weekend. Great time to look at the tide pools on the island, or even such as here – just seeing what is exposed when the water pulls back so far.
Looking straight ahead is Port Townsend in the middle, we could see the paper mill puffing steam. Marrowstone Island is the left side mass in front. We could see even Fort Worden to the far right. The Olympic Mountains are in the distance.
I love seeing beach shelters. I won’t go in them, but I love seeing how people build them. The boys took turns swinging. And it didn’t break. Hah.
A crab that a Seagull enjoyed for breakfast.
We watched the sun approach us. It was a sweet little beach and park. It feels wild, because of the houses not being directly on the water here. It feels more like you are in a state park.
~Sarah