What a great day to be playing around on the beach and in the woods! The trails in this park are a mix of beach walk, ridge and forest. We parked at the north parking lot, hiked along the ridge, then down to the beach and along the beach. This is the first time hiking along the beach going north, as the tide has always been in too far before. Here we were lucky to see two jellies, see and hear loons, a heron and an eagle. We met a couple of guys who had notebooks and said they were having a meeting, way better than zoom! We walked back along the beach, took the Loop trail thru the woods  around the perimeter of the of the park and back to the beach. The bigleaf maples are in color and Pacific Madrone are all nicely berried up. Look for the pickleweed near the brackish water by the picnic tables at the beach, an interesting low growing little plant that looks like a pickle. More people than we normally see here in the off season, but hardly a crowd, most people just hanging out on the beach enjoying the sun. Restrooms are open at the north beach, and on bunch or restrooms open at the boat launch. Vault toilets closed.                                                                                                     We then stopped  on the Cama beach road and walked to Cranberry lake for a bit more walking (1.4 miles RT). Turn left coming out of the park and look for a kiosk and parking for 2 cars just down the road. 

I was here for vacation and was looking for a walk with a beautiful view of the ocean. It’s a wast and fast hike you cans do in a few hours. It was cloudy but still can enjoy the ocean and the seagulls. You still can find many shells on the beach.

We have been to Camano Island State Park many times, but each time we camp there we discover something new either here or in the adjacent Cama Beach Park.  Our favorite trail is the South Cliff trail where you have nice views of Elger Bay.  Sometimes an eagle roosts in the trees above.  This time we explored trails north of Cama Beach Historical State Park.  Although the web site advertizes 15 miles of hiking trails, the Cama Beach web site and downloadable .pdf brochure lack a trail map.  But the trails are well marked and you would not get lost without a map.  The North Bluff Trail and the Marine View Loop Trail have two view platforms, although the view is somewhat obstructed by trees that need trimming.  Ocean Spray (Holodiscus discolor) is the only blooming species along the trail at this time of the year.

We stayed a night at the campground and hiked around the trails and beach area while we were there. We made a loop from our campsite, through a couple of the other loops, down one of the trails to one of the viewpoints to the south, then down the road to the beach. We sat at the beach for a bit watching the waves which was nice - lots of good logs to sit on. We took the trail that went back up to the campground from there. There is one section of trail that is closed right now, but we detoured to another part of the trail that went by the cabins and group camp. It was a little longer, but did the job. The trails were in good conditions, and there were too many people on the trails themselves, lots of mosquitos in the campground at night! 

10 days ago we hiked in the park and returned today to see if the honeysuckle bushes were  in full bloom and to see if there was any activity at the Pacific wren nest we had watched being built. (I have included a link to eliminate duplicate typing!) The day was beautiful and the Olympic Mountains and Mt Rainier were seen. On our first visit they were hiding behind clouds! The yellow lupine is fading, but Puget Sound Gumweed, yarrow, ocean spray, honeysuckle, continue to bloom. Foam flower, daisies and spring beauty are still blooming in the forest. Most of the honeysuckle was not in full bloom, but there were many more open blossoms which the bees love!  

The highlight of the Al Emerson Trail today was watching a hairy woodpecker feeding its young! There was no activity at the site of the Pacific Wren's nest. Mosquitoes were a nuisance in the forest, but thankfully were not biting!