Very few people.  <6 cars in parking lot.  Pit toilet in lot in good condition.  Encountered 6 people total on the trail to the beach and back.  

BRING BUG SPRAY.  They're bad in the parking lot and along the "Red" and "Blue" paths out to the beach.  Somewhat less along the "Yellow" trail that is on the Willapa Bay side.  No bugs once you get out to the beach, though.  Would recommend going out to the beach via "Yellow" trail and coming back the same way as it is more scenic, unless you want to do the entire Dune Loop trail.  Entire trail was dry without even any mud.  Feel bad for folks who had to wade thru water earlier in the year....

Spied flocks of snowy plovers (we think) wheeling around the dunes.  Almost got dive bombed by a group.  Watched some running around the water's edge thru binos.  Saw some hawks and a coyote, but not much else.

Great hike if you are looking for solitude.  Long Beach also looks like a fun little town.  Most of the shops seemed open.

The day began with a little rain off and on but nothing heavy. Temps were mild and the wind light. There was just one vehicle at the Leadbetter trailhead when we arrived and maybe 8 when we left though we never saw anyone else on the trail.  The trail travels through a variety of terrain, from forested, to thick vegetation, to dunes and grasses, to the beach and mud flats.  We didn't see anyone while we were on the trail, and saw just one guy (on a bike) while on the beach. We spied two deer  just before reaching the snowy plover protected nesting area and the beach.  The tide was out and the walking was easy.  There were a lot of huckleberries, a coastal variety with a nice snap to them. We saw quite a bit of bear scat, but no bear.   The varied terrain kept the hike interesting, and the beach was fantastic.  We saw several intact sand dollars and zero trash, and experienced the rare feeling of solitude. 

We made a few stops on the way home including the Willapa NWR Art Walk.  It's a short boardwalk interpretive trail worth a peek particularly if you have little ones. 

Enjoyed the Dune Forest Loop Trail to the Weather Beach Trail then walked north on the beach for maybe a mile or so and connected to the BearBerry Trail that connected to the Bay Loop Trail along the Willapa Bay. Was a perfect day without a cloud in sky and about 72 degrees or so. There was no mud as the whole week has been sunny and warm.

This is one of my favorite hikes - ever!  Despite being super cold and super wet and super soggy, we laughed so hard at ourselves and at this crazy unique adventure.

NOTE: wear water shoes and bring warm clothes, bug repellent and a good attitude because you are hiking through bogs.

We took the direct path to the ocean and spent at least half of our time in knee to thigh deep cold water.  Then, when we reached the beach, the rain arrived as did an icy wind.  So we just kept walking. The beach walk to the point was spectacular - 30 bald eagles! a dead whale! hundreds of snowy plovers scurrying along the beach! Then the sun came out and we just kept walking.  We started on the yellow trail but turned around and retraced our steps back - and swear the water had risen another couple inches:)  We saw no one the entire day.  (Thank you Craig Romano for including it in the 100 Classic hikes in Washington State)

PS: We were so cold, we chose not to camp out, but instead stayed at the Shellburn Inn, the oldest continuously operating hotel in Washington State and it was terrific - especially its oysters and salmon reubens!

Finally took the time to drive out to Ledbetter - I'm happy that I went, though it's a long enough haul to get to, so I'm not sure I'll ever go back or not.

First FYI to all considering hiking here - even though it the trailhead is in a state park much of the trail system is on National Wildlife Sanctuary land and *ALL* of the trails are designated No Dogs Allowed - and that really means NO DOGS - PERIOD, not for just a little bit, not on a leash - no matter that you drove all the way there - NO DOGS. This information should probably be changed on the hike description as it indicates leashed dogs are allowed.... 

We started out at the parking area for the Martha Jordon trail. I'm happy to report that this trail has now been fully connected to the rest of the trail system at Leadbetter. It joins the Dunes Loop at around it's midpoint. We walked the entire Dunes Loop and Bay loop trails and they are completely passable. The section of the Dunes Loop, between the first parking area and the intersection with the Martha Jordon trail was a bit overgrown, but we mentioned it to the guy out clearing the trails and he said he'd see if it was wide enough to run his mini-cat down to trim it out. The Bearberry and Weather Beach trails both had enough water on them that would have meant wading and even on such a nice spring day we had no desire to be wading in knee deep (sulfurous) cold water... so we only hiked portions of each of those trails. The maps and markers are pretty good throughout the trail system *except* for the western most portion of the Dune Forest Loop. Before you pass the viewing platform you need to stay pretty much as close to the tide line as possible, otherwise you end up at the parking lot. There is a noticeable boot path but only one marker visible on the beach. You'll want to keep a close eye for the trail back into the woods - the sign is fairly far back could easily be walked past if you weren't watching for it. The boot path down the beach continues on too - so it wouldn't be hard to walk right by. 

Most of the walking is pretty easy - fairly flat - packed sand and forest tread without a lot of roots or rocks. We walked 10 miles all together, even without finishing the two side trails. 

We didn't see much in the way of birds or wildlife - the tide was quite far out, so it wasn't a great time for shore birds. In fact... the most interesting bird sighting of the day happened on I-5 quite near to downtown Olympia when an eagle carrying, what appeared to be a live opossum flew low over the highway...