Beach Hike from Richmond Beach to Carkeek Park

A long walk on the beautiful Puget Sound shoreline

Hike Length: 5 miles

Elevation Gain: minimal

Hike Difficulty: Easy

Updated 9/22/2021

Walking the Puget Sound shoreline offers multiple beach combing pleasures; you will enjoy the cooling breezes off the cold waters of the Sound, the long views west toward Bainbridge Island and the Olympic Mountains, wildlife and bird watching, finding odd man-made objects cast up onto the shore. The high, forested bluff rising above this part of the shore walls off the sights and sounds of suburbia, giving the beach a surprisingly wild feel. True, the mainline Burlington Northern railroad tracks run right alongside the beach, but the occasional freight train or Amtrak rumbling by does not detract too much from the shoreline ambiance. The tracks are elevated out of sight by an 100 year old rock sea wall which was built with amazing craftsmanship, the weathered granite blocks having the look of a Mayan temple. Such masonry skill having gone out of style, new repairs to the sea wall are made by simply dumping rocks in a random pile.

This beach walk requires a good low tide to be enjoyable: minus 2 or less is best. Such tides only occur during daylight hours in spring and summer. Try to start the beach walking an hour ahead of low tide, so your hike won’t be rushed by the incoming tide. The water level of the Puget Sound changes little for an hour either side of the exact time of low tide, giving at least two good hours of beach walking. Starting about an hour after the low tide, you will notice the water starting to rise, creeping slowly into the shallow lagoons and tidal channels. If you tarry too long, the slow creep turns into a flood, and the easy-walking fine sand beach exposed by the low tide disappears with startling swiftness. You will be forced to stumble along the rocky, sloping beach next to the railroad track. If the tide rises too high, even this part of the beach goes underwater. If need be, you can use the tracks themselves as a walkway, but this is not recommended as the speeding trains make it dangerous and you can be cited for trespassing by railroad security guards.

Beach north of Carkeek Park, with a high tide. You will want to pick a time with a lower tide than this for the Richmond Beach - Carkeek Park walk. Photo credit: Joe Mabel/Wikimedia Commons)

Getting There

In downtown Seattle, catch a Metro 41 bus and ride it to Northgate Transit Center. Or take the northbound Link Light Rail when the Northgate extension opens on October 2021.

Transfer to Metro 348, headed to Richmond Beach. Get off near the end of the line at the intersection of NW 196th St and 20th Ave NW .

The Hike

Follow 20th Ave south a quarter mile to Richmond Beach Park; you may see brown signs directing you to the park. The park begins at the top of a tall sandy bluff giving a nice view over Puget Sound. Follow a staircase that drops down the bluff to a parking lot. At the south end of the lot, follow a trail leading to an bridge over the railroad tracks and on down to the beach, which is equipped with picnic tables and restrooms.

Now, simply follow the Puget Sound shoreline south. If you have picked a time with a suitable low tide, you will find the walking easy on a broad, fine-sand beach. However, the going is not totally a cinch, for shallow lagoons and tidal channel occasionally bar your progress. If you are willing to wade a bit, you’ll make faster progress. You may share the beach with herons looking for tidbits exposes by the tide. Clams hiding under the sand will shoot fountains of water out of their siphons, quite a surprise when one scores a hit on your leg.

About a mile from Richmond Beach, you round a point where the beach becomes especially broad; this is the delta of Boeing Creek, which has a surprisingly large flow of water even in summer. Two miles further south, you pass another point where the beach becomes rocky for a bit. Here the pedestrian overpass marking Carkeek Park becomes visible, and a half mile more of walking brings you to the beach, formed by sand deposited by Pipers Creek. Carkeek Park is a popular place; on a sunny day there’s usually a crowd of happy beachcombers enjoying the sand, water, and Puget Sound vistas. Carkeek Park and it’s extensive trail system is described in more detail in Hike 4.

From Carkeek Beach, cross the pedestrian overpass and follow a network of paths leading along Pipers Creek. The lower end of Carkeek Park is developed with lawns and picnic areas; the upper end is a lovely wild ravine. Follow the Piper’s Creek Trail to its end at a lawn at 6th Ave NW, a short cul-de-sac off 100th Place. It’s a long mile from the beach to the park entrance at 6th NW.

Getting Back

At 100th Place, catch the southbound Metro 28 bus and ride it to downtown Seattle.