Hiking to McMicken Island from Harstine Island State Park

Looking for more to see and do around Harstine Island and the South Salish Sea?
Hike to a beautiful beach at Fudge Point, or head to Alderbrook Resort in Union for an overnight stay.

CURRENT INFO

Further information about hiking to McMicken Island is available on the Mountaineers website. Both Harstine Island and McMicken Island State Parks are managed by nearby Jarrell Cove State Park, located at the north end of the island.

GOOD TO KNOW

• Bring your Discover Pass. Parking at Harstine Island State Park requires either a valid annual Discover Pass, or else a $10 day use pass. Passes can be purchased in person at the park. Check the Discover Pass website for a list of fee-free days.
• It’s only possible to hike to McMicken Island at low tide. Check the tide tables online ahead of time to plan your visit. I use the NOAA tide tables for Allyn, a small town located just north of Harstine Island. During high tide, the tombolo (sand spit) connecting McMicken Island to Harstine Island is under water, and McMicken is only accessible by boat.
• The lower the tide, the better, and the more time you’ll have to explore. Ideally, start your hike at the Harstine Island State Park trailhead one to two hours before the lowest tide so that you will be at McMicken Island when the water is lowest.
• This hike starts at the main trailhead in Harstine Island State Park.
• For a shorter hike, a public trail branches off from E McMicken Road (see map above). Unfortunately, no parking is allowed at this trailhead, but it’s possible to drop hikers off or pick them up at this spot. On our hike, the kids and I followed this trail back to E McMicken Road, while the other adults hiked back to their cars at Harstine Island State Park and drove to meet us.
• If you plan to use this alternate route, I recommend downloading the trail map for Harstine Island State Park on the AllTrails app. Although this trail isn’t part of the highlighted hiking route, you can view it on the downloaded map and it will make it much easier to find the unmarked trailhead along the beach.

• Vault toilets are available at the parking lot trailhead in Harstine Island State Park and on McMicken Island State Park.
• Picnic tables are available on McMicken Island.
• Pets on leash area allowed on public trails and beaches at Harstine Island State Park and McMicken Island.
• Bring water. Potable water is not available at at the trailhead or along the hike.
• Wear rubber boots, waterproof hiking boots or shoes, or water shoes. Spare socks are also a good idea. Sandals tend to fill with wet sand and bits of broken shell and rocks when walking on the tide flats, so aren’t ideal. Some people may be comfortable walking barefoot, but will need shoes when traversing the rockier sections of the beach — sharp barnacles are everywhere!
• Bring towels for drying off.
• Remember to pack the 10 Essentials.
• Always follow Leave No Trace principles.
• Walk with care and treat all animal and plant life with respect. Leave the beach as you found it, so others can enjoy its natural beauty.

HIGHLIGHTS

Low tide on the eastern shores of Harstine Island reveals a hidden world of sand dollars and seaweed, tide flats and tube worms. The wide swath of sand invites hours of exploration, and the views across the Case Inlet are inspiring on a clear day. You may even catch a glimpse of Mount Rainier.

And how often do you have the chance to walk across a tombolo (aka sand spit, but doesn’t tombolo sound more romantic?) to a tiny island? McMicken Island is cute as a button, and the perfect spot for a fair weather picnic.

THE KIDS’ TAKE

The hike along the beach from Harstine Island State Park to McMicken Island was made for kids (and kids at heart). With so much to explore, the possibilities for adventure are endless… and for some little legs the hike itself may begin to feel endless! We did the hike described below with six kids between the ages of four and 15, and it wasn’t always easy. Walking a mile along the tide flats as sand and broken bits of shell seep into your sandals takes a toll.

Good footgear is key, but what constitutes “good footgear” varies widely from child to child. My eight-year-old, for example, hates wearing rubber boots. His sneakers were great at first, until they filled with silt. Some kids may prefer going barefoot, but will still need shoes when crossing the barnacle-studded rocks that line the beach before the tide flats. Find what works for your kids and bring back ups, including extra socks.

To keep things simple, you can skip the trek to McMicken Island and just hang out on the beach at Harstine Island State Park. It may not be quite as adventurous, but still offers a world of exciting tidal discoveries.

WHILE YOU’RE HERE

Harstine Island is also home to another “secret” state park, Fudge Point. Located a four-mile drive south of Harstine Island State Park, Fudge Point offers an easy hike to the beach and is another fantastic place to explore the tide flats.

Near the northern tip of the island, Jarrell Cove State Park is a lovely place to launch your boat, camp, or just hang out on the dock in hopes of spying an otter or two. For more, shall we say, refined accommodations, head to Alderbrook Resort on the Hood Canal. There are some great hikes near Hood Canal, including the stunning Staircase Rapids in Olympic National Park and charming Dosewallips State Park.

Feeling hungry after your explorations on the South Salish Sea? Stop by the Olympic Bakery on Pickering Road as you leave Harstine Island, where you’ll find pastries, sandwiches, and ice cream for sale. North of Harstine on State Route 3, Big Bubba’s Burgers is a favorite stop in the tiny town of Allyn.

When I realized our visit to Harstine Island would be marked by an unusually low tide, one thing came first to mind. Could we walk to McMicken Island? Once, many years ago, I had briefly explored this mini-island while canoeing around much larger Harstine Island with my dad. Now was the perfect time to return, bringing a gaggle of kids (and a couple other adults) with me.

Online research indicated that it was not possible to park near the most direct trailhead leading to McMicken Island. Instead, we had to park in the small lot at Harstine Island State Park. This meant an out-and-back hike of nearly four miles total. It was a bit longer than I originally anticipated, but fortunately my friends were game, and I was confident the wonders of low tide would distract the kids from thinking about the mileage. This turned out to be somewhat true, if not entirely accurate.

At Harstine Island State Park, the road ends at the main parking lot. We chose the trail to the north, marked with a small sign showing a beach umbrella (an object I have never once seen on the island). The hike down to the beach is quick, and leads through a gorgeous forest of evergreens, big leaf maple, and alder. We had three kids with us at this point, and all were delighted to explore the “octo-colocto” trees, as eight-year-old T named them. These big leaf maple trees sporting multiple trunks became almost too numerous to count as we neared the beach.

The final path to the beach leads down a steep trail. Fortunately, stair treads built into the hillside ease the way. The two trails from the trailhead rejoin at this point near a patch of skunk cabbage, and a wooden bridge shows the way to the shore.

Although we had another hour and a half until the lowest tide, the beach stretching before us was already impressively wide. Green algae fairly glowed under the mid-day sun, and the pale water of the Case Inlet shimmered in the distance. The kids eagerly stepped out to explore as the wet sand squelched underfoot.

And there was truly so much to explore! We immediately noticed the skeletal remains of sand dollars, bleached white from exposure. Soon, we spotted live sand dollars as well. Covered in tiny, soft purple spines, sand dollars are related to sea urchins, and live most of their lives partially buried in the sandy sea floor. T started a sand dollar count as we walked the beach, but abandoned the cause not long after counting more than 100 of the fuzzy purple creatures.

Another low tide find common on the eastern shore of Harstine Island are moon snail egg collars. Held together with sand, these egg cases look more like broken pottery than future marine life. Although many of the thousands of eggs that fill this collar will never reach maturity, some will grow into a baseball-sized aquatic snail.

Adult moon snails spend their lives mostly hidden from human eyes, searching for shellfish to gorge on along the sea floor and burrowing into the sand rather than exposing themselves to the open air. If you are very lucky, you may spot one on the beach (as we did on the western side of Harstine Island the following day). More likely, you may find broken bits of a moon snail shell, a pale brown spiral that is nearly spherical when whole. You may even be fortunate enough to find a complete, unbroken shell, one of the most highly sought after specimens for any Salish Sea beachcomber.

Soon, another friend joined our group on the beach, together with her three children. We spread out as we slowly ambled the tide flats, each beachgoer making their own unique discoveries. As we neared McMicken Island, our boots sank deeper into the sand. I headed inland to avoid the worst of it. Young T was not so cautious, and when I caught up with him he moaned that his shoes were filled with sand and rocks.

“We just have to make it to McMicken Island,” I told him. “Then you can take off your shoes and socks and give your feet a break.”

The tombolo, a sandy bar connecting the two islands, was high and dry compared to the tide flats that surrounded it. After the long walk across wet sand, everyone was ready for a much-needed lunch break. The picnic area for McMicken Island is conveniently located just past the point where the tombolo meets the shore. Off came the boots, out came the food, and soon everyone was gathered around the picnic table. Talk turned from sea creatures and sore feet to “Please pass the crackers” and “Can I have some cherries?”, and it was good.

What didn’t sound so good, at least to the kids, was the hike back. The three adults conferred, and decided that Amy and Rebecca would return to the trailhead at Harstine Island State Park, while I would take the kids up the trail located closer to McMicken Island. To reach this trail, we crossed the tombolo back to Harstine Island, then turned north to head up the beach. Before long, we spied an unmarked trail leading into the woods. Aha! We had found it.

You may be wondering just how we found this trail. Although it is on public land, it’s unmarked and not easy to spot from the shore. For that, I have to give props to the handy All Trails app. Prior to our hike, I downloaded the trail map for Harstine Island State Park. AllTrails maps typically show all (or at least most) of the trails in the area, enabling me to navigate to this obscure trailhead using my phone. I’m not big on using much technology while hiking (other than my phone’s camera), but sometimes it has its place.

Similar to Harstine Island State Park, the this trail initially heads uphill from the beach, but it soon flattens out. It’s a pleasant ramble through stands of alder and cedar leading to a grassy forest access road. The forest road meets up with E McMicken Road, a paved road lined with private property. A locked gate blocks cars from using the forest road (not that most would want to), and a sign clearly states that no parking is allowed. This trail is entirely on public land, however, and E McMicken Road is also public.

Since we reached E McMicken Road prior to the other adults with their cars, we decided to continue our hike along the road to meet up with them. With the gate behind us, we turned left onto E McMicken Road and followed it all the way to the intersection with E Harstine Island Road. All in all, we probably walked almost as far as we would have had we returned on foot to Harstine Island State Park. Fortunately, the walk along the road was easy and relaxing, especially after our foray across the tide flats.

Amy and Rebecca met us in their minivans mere minutes after we arrived at E Harstine Island Road, where we said our goodbyes and headed our separate ways. Our trek to McMicken Island had been an adventure, one I hope the kids will remember for years to come. I know I will… and yes, of course, I hope to return. Maybe next time by kayak? Only time will tell.