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Washington's Pacific Coast: A Guide to Hiking, Camping, Fishing & Other Adventures
• Best hiking trails, campsites, fishing spots, paddle routes, beachcombing, and more
• Trip and activity options include related natural history information
• Includes Olympic National Park's spectacular 70-mile-long wilderness beach strip
A wild ocean snuggled up to a wild land in the furthest corner of our Lower 48 states―the Washington coast is a unique adventure destination and this new guidebook covers all 157 miles of it. Whether you’re out for a single day of salt air and sand castles, or a week long backpack with surf lulling you to sleep at night, you’ll discover your best options with Washington’s Pacific Coast.
Author Greg Johnston has had a long and intimate relationship with this coast, and his voice is distinctive, passionate, often opinionated, and clearly knowledgeable. His authoritative guide provides detailed, fun, and family-friendly activities, as well as expansive information, history, and geology. (If Captain Cook passed by where you are, this guide will tell you―and make the trip feel all the more satisfying.) In addition to numerous hiking options―including some never-before-published trails―Greg covers every state park along the coast, other public parks, campgrounds, fishing and clamming spots, paddling options, and the best beachcombing destinations.
In addition to describing the abundant outdoor recreation opportunities, Johnston also delves into the rich cultural and natural history of the coast, as well as practical details such as tsunami preparedness, Leave No Trace practices, weather and ocean beach precautions, and more.
• Trip and activity options include related natural history information
• Includes Olympic National Park's spectacular 70-mile-long wilderness beach strip
A wild ocean snuggled up to a wild land in the furthest corner of our Lower 48 states―the Washington coast is a unique adventure destination and this new guidebook covers all 157 miles of it. Whether you’re out for a single day of salt air and sand castles, or a week long backpack with surf lulling you to sleep at night, you’ll discover your best options with Washington’s Pacific Coast.
Author Greg Johnston has had a long and intimate relationship with this coast, and his voice is distinctive, passionate, often opinionated, and clearly knowledgeable. His authoritative guide provides detailed, fun, and family-friendly activities, as well as expansive information, history, and geology. (If Captain Cook passed by where you are, this guide will tell you―and make the trip feel all the more satisfying.) In addition to numerous hiking options―including some never-before-published trails―Greg covers every state park along the coast, other public parks, campgrounds, fishing and clamming spots, paddling options, and the best beachcombing destinations.
In addition to describing the abundant outdoor recreation opportunities, Johnston also delves into the rich cultural and natural history of the coast, as well as practical details such as tsunami preparedness, Leave No Trace practices, weather and ocean beach precautions, and more.
- GenresNonfiction
304 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2015
9 people are currently reading
26 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 18, 2024
This book was so good!! It had the perfect blend of history, geology, nature info, advice, and descriptions of activities. Regular guidebooks often focus too much on lists of activities without enough context. The author’s expertise and love for the area showed through the whole book and it was a great read! I would love to read more books like this for other regions I’ve been to or are going to.
September 3, 2017
This guide was so well-written that it had me rework my upcoming vacation itinerary and scramble to get a campsite reserved at Kalaloch. It's engaging, full of little tidbits and even historical notes, with amazing descriptions which make you feel like you won't be complete until you see these things. He even does the extremely rare and admit when hikes AREN'T worth hiking because other ones are better. It has a very good feel to it overall, catching more like a fiction book than a guide, and I finished it within a day just because I had to know about the next day and the next and the next.
August 27, 2015
I dare say this is the best outdoor guidebook I have ever read. I have lived very close to and long returned to the Washington Coast and have often despaired that there was no good guidebook. Now there is--and you get it in spades.
Greg Johnston has covered every angle of enjoying the coastline, as well as some nearby points of interest. I have backpacked and explored much of the wilderness area along the coast (most of this within Olympic National Park) and Mr. Johnston has not missed a thing. He takes the time to point out special sights and the unobvious attractions that a less seasoned traveler might miss. This careful and deeply researched approach is not just true for the backpacker, but for the angler, the camper or for the sightseer.
Mr. Johnston weaves in natural and human history in deft and interesting ways. Such points always serve to illuminate what we see in the present. (My personal favorite was his retelling of an oral tradition among the Makah tribe that precisely complemented scientific research on ancient tsunamis.)
This guide has superb maps, great tables for comparing campgrounds and hikes and many other tools to complement the prose.
As I see it, Mr. Johnston has set the standard for how comprehensive outdoor guidebooks should be written.
Greg Johnston has covered every angle of enjoying the coastline, as well as some nearby points of interest. I have backpacked and explored much of the wilderness area along the coast (most of this within Olympic National Park) and Mr. Johnston has not missed a thing. He takes the time to point out special sights and the unobvious attractions that a less seasoned traveler might miss. This careful and deeply researched approach is not just true for the backpacker, but for the angler, the camper or for the sightseer.
Mr. Johnston weaves in natural and human history in deft and interesting ways. Such points always serve to illuminate what we see in the present. (My personal favorite was his retelling of an oral tradition among the Makah tribe that precisely complemented scientific research on ancient tsunamis.)
This guide has superb maps, great tables for comparing campgrounds and hikes and many other tools to complement the prose.
As I see it, Mr. Johnston has set the standard for how comprehensive outdoor guidebooks should be written.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews