ADDRESS
3506 Camp Hayden Rd
Port Angeles, WA 98363
HOURS
Summer
7:00am – 10:00pm
Winter
7:00am – 7:00pm
CONTACT
(360) 928-3441
Salt Creek Recreation Area
AMENITIES
Camping, Picnic Facilities, Restrooms, Trails, Wheelchair Accessible
For decades, Salt Creek Recreation Area has been a highly regarded site for wildlife viewing. Mammals, marine invertebrates, birds, and marine mammals can all be seen from the Park. Marine life can be seen from many vantage points in the park. Numerous interpretive kiosks throughout the park help with their identification. At low tide, the tidepools of Tongue Point, and the shoreline to the east, offer the best viewing of intertidal marine life.
Kayakers, surfers, and others in various water craft catch glimpses of sea life. One of the best places to spot marine mammals is from the bluff edge near the stairs leading to Tongue Point. The Whale Trail sign is located on the path near the stairs.
WHERE THE WHALES ARE
Gray whales are often seen in Crescent Bay, at the north end of the Park. Watch for their distinctive heart-shaped spouts, or their tail flukes as they dive. From vantage points throughout the park, look across the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The strait is an important passageway, linking the open waters of the Pacific Ocean to the inland waters of the Salish Sea. You may see orcas, minkes or even humpback whales; Dall’s porpoise, harbor porpoise or sometimes, Pacific White-sided dolphins.
WHICH ANIMALS YOU CAN EXPECT TO SEE
MARINE SANCTUARY
Tongue Point is the rocky peninsula that appears during low tide at the northwest corner of the Park, while at high tide only the tallest rocks can be seen. This area and the entire shoreline of the Park is part of a Marine Protected Area or sanctuary. The Marine Sanctuary is set up to prevent people from removing any natural items from the shoreline, such as shells, rocks, driftwood, and marine life. Everything on the beach has a purpose in the tidal zone. The sanctuary also provides food sources for marine mammals. Before the sanctuary was created, people were stripping the shoreline of mussels, sea urchins, and kelp. These marine resources have recovered very well.
TRAVEL TIPS
When you visit, please help preserve the wonderful shoreline and tidepools of Salt Creek Recreation Area. You are encouraged to touch, take photographs, and examine the marine life in the tidepools, but do not remove anything. Binoculars, spotting scopes, or cameras with zoom lenses can be helpful, but not necessary to view the marine mammals. Salt Creek Recreation Area is also a site on the Olympic Loop of the Audubon Society’s Washington State Birding Trail.