Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge — Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021

Bottom line: Good hike for a rainy day with misty views from a relatively dry elevated boardwalk, which itself provides several shelters to get out of the rain along its length. The walk has a seasonal closure just before the viewing platform at its end, but this does not really impact the trip, and views of the Olympics, Mt Rainier and Puget Sound islands would have been non-existent today anyway.

Stats

• Distance: 4-1/2 miles
• Duration: 2 hours
• Vertical: 52 ft
• Weather: Rainy, but otherwise still, glassy waters
• Takeaway: Wonderful, moody walk on the Nisqually Estuary Boardwalk trail, extending way out on the Nisqually delta with many different birds (bring binoculars!) which likely vary by season. Due to the rain, I did not bring my zoom lens, so mostly distance shots in this report. Perfect trail for the rain and chill of an early December day, although I might feel differently had there been wind. I do love the ocean in heavy rain without even a whisper of wind (especially when diving) - the whole trail I was thinking about having my kayak (tide was relatively high). Appropriate gear is a must for the rain, but this is a trail where you could actually carry an umbrella. Definitely kid friendly :)
• Trail: High and dry, but note the warning signs about straying onto the mud flats which can be dangerous due to their quicksand properties; for families the trail is well setup making it difficult to directly access the mud flats as you travel the boardwalk above them

Headed down past Tacoma and some traffic congestion (whoa) to the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. It was raining pretty heavily, so I was a little concerned as we got closer to the site. But for a rainy day, this is kind of an ideal trail.

There was plenty of parking, a $3 (cash) fee to park, or something like an America the Beautiful national pass, and open restrooms adjacent to the closed visitor center (that closure is no worry as there are plenty of interesting information boards throughout the trail sharing the history and wildlife of the area, all in excellent shape). We used heavy-duty rain shells - top and bottom - and we were dry and warm (definitely soaked on the outside with some driving horizontal rain at times). 

The trail starts with boardwalks through the woods which I did not expect (bonus!), then a gravel dike-top road out to the start of the Nisqually Estuary Boardwalk trail. The boardwalk is truly splendid with 360-degree views of the estuary, a walking-on-water perspective (the tide was relative high covering the mud flats and channels) and surrounded by activity with all kinds of birds and waterfowl (grebes, loons, ducks, geese, hawks, and many stoic blue herons who sat quietly observing all the action, and me). We did not see any mammals (e.g. mink) or seals today, but this is a place where every visit is different and interesting. Today, the rain made the trail uniquely interesting - it was a good choice (at least while I am caught flat-footed without snow tires on my car yet).

Note: On the return, a detour of I5 via 705 west, and then along the Port of Tacoma waterfront eventually back to I5, allowed us to bypass most of the congestion ;)