Walked the Titlow Beach and Scott Pierson trails together on this freezing but gorgeous Sunday morning in my ongoing effort to find outdoor activities that don’t involve getting contaminated by corona zombie virus. The route was pretty basic - up along the beach, over the tracks on the pedestrian bridge and out onto 6th, walk up 6th (nice, full sidewalk, easy walking) up to Scott Pierson, out over the Narrows Bridge then back the way we came. No specific trail issues, except it was pretty windy which made walking over the Narrows less than pleasurable, (bridge wiggling, getting blown all over, freezing, etc - might be better to do that part on a calmer/warmer day.) It was higher tide so you could not walk the beach but there are trails that follow the waterline and still provide really nice views. There are no facilities along Scott Pierson but Titlow had a couple of functional sanicans. Parking is easy, free and plentiful at Titlow.
The area has really interesting history - a large resort area and briefly a center of motion picture production (who knew?). This was also the location of the original car ferry that predated the completion of the original Narrows Bridge in 1940. In addition to the big beach, Titlow also has a good sized lagoon/pond area that attracts significant bird life. The forested area includes both large fir/conifer and a sizable terminal Alder/wetland area. Lots of diversity packed into a relatively small area. For train buffs, both at the main entrance area by the beach and the pedestrian bridge over the joint BNSF/UP mainline offer super nice viewing opportunities. A nice, relatively easy walk with a bunch of history and stuff to see.
Link to further historical information - https://tacomahistory.live/2017/05/31/titlow-beach-reimagined/
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