This trail is totally flat and very family friendly. There are many different trails to choose from and today we went with the Estuary Boardwalk Trail as mentioned in the WTA guide. As previous reports have mentioned,this is a great place to view wildlife so bring your camera and binoculars. We saw a hawk, herons, and several other little birds while out today. The boardwalk out over the water is beautiful and there are lots of viewing platforms and benches to stop for breaks along the way. The last 700 yards of the boardwalk are closed at this time due to duck hunting season but will reopen around the end of January 2012. Other than that, there are no other issues to report about this trail. If you are in the area and have a few hours, this is a great place to take kids of all ages for a hike and maybe you'll see some exciting wildlife!

We enjoyed a foggy, dramatic late aftenoon on this marvelous four mile walk. As has been oft reported, this is a fabulous mid-winter outing, especially with the brand new boardwalk. Don't miss it! I captured a few striking images. You almost can't come away without a good photo from this place. Bring your telephoto lens!

This is a great walk and not to far from home.

This was an unplanned spur of the moment stop coming back up from a work meeting in Olympia. The day was so nice I couldn't resist. Right off of I5 between Lacey & Dupont in northern Thurston County is the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. I had walked the new boardwalk earlier this year but it was a little foggy then. Today was clear. I did not have a camera but there are great photo ops on the walk. The trail out to the boardwalk plus the boardwalk is around 2 miles one-way. Mt Rainier comes into better and better view back to the east the further out on the boardwalk you go. Lots of waterfowl, of course. Tide appeared to be in but going back out. Great job that was done on this boardwalk. Check it out if in area.

And Hike-a-Thon begins for me. We stopped at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge for a bit of a leg stretcher on our way to the Mount St. Helens area. I have wanted to see the new boardwalk, and I wanted to share this amazing place with my family who was visiting from land-locked Colorado. The good news is that I got to see the boardwalk, and it is pretty darn cool as it gently winds its way out into the tidal estuary. The bad news is that I did not make it to the end. A certain 2 1/2 year old daughter of mine wanted desperately to "be the leader," but her older brother and cousin were determined to skip on ahead up the wide boardwalks and paths. OH, the horrors of it all! Imagine the toddler screaming, "I want to lead!" and running as fast as her little legs could take her toward the big kids. Splat - down she would go on her face. Crying. Running to catch up again. Splat. Then a plea by parents to the big kids to let her lead. Sulking. "No fair!" More crying. So we cut this delightful outing short and ate our lunch in the grass of the parking lot (since the wildlife refuge has no picnicking area near the visitor center). On our return, we did see a raccoon family, black turtles, a heron and many unidentifiable birds (I am certainly no bird expert). I will return - perhaps with a stroller, and certainly with some additional rules - another day.