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From Seattle take I-5 North to exit 177 to Highway 104 West. Follow Highway 104 to Kingston Ferry in Edmonds.
Rialto Beach access:
From Edmonds take Kingston Ferry. In Kingston follow Highway 104 West to Hood Canal Bridge. In about 24 miles Highway 104 reaches the junction, where Highway 101 South leading to Olympia goes to the left, continue on straight on Hwy. 101 North to Port Angeles. Follow the highway for about 35.4 miles and turn left onto Lincoln St. in Port Angeles. Look for sign "Hwy 101 West to Forks". In 47.8 miles turn right onto Highway 110 to La Push. In 7.5 mile take right turn to Mora and Rialto Beach. Be careful not to miss the turn, for the sign in on the other side of the road and very hard to see. Follow the road to the end for 4.8 miles to parking at Rialto Beach.
Total driving time from Kingston - about 2.5 hours.

Ozette Area access:
From Edmonds take Kingston Ferry. In Kingston follow Highway 104 West to Hood Canal Bridge. In about 24 miles Highway 104 reaches the junction, where Highway 101 South leading to Olympia goes to the left, continue on straight on Hwy. 101 North to Port Angeles. Follow the highway for about 35.4 miles and turn left onto Lincoln St. in Port Angeles. Look for sign "Hwy 101 West to Forks". In 5.4 miles turn right onto Highway 112 and follow it for 38 miles to T-junction with Highway 113. Turn right and continue on Highway 112 for another 10.5 miles to Hoko - Ozette Road. Look for sign Indicating Ozette recreation area. Turn left onto Hoko - Ozette Road and follow it to the end for 21 miles to parking.
Total driving time to Ozette Area - 2.75 hours. $1 daily parking fee at Ozette trailhead.

November 17, 2000

It is better to start your hike about 3 hours before low water. The weather on the coast can change quickly - make sure you are ready for strong winds and rain. Hiking boots that will provide good traction on slippery rocks is a must.

Meandering on the gravel Rialto Beach the trail leads to Ellens Creek (about 15 min). Campfires are prohibited before the creek. Crossing the creek over logs can be a challenge sometimes. After the creek crossing there are more sand areas that make hiking easier.

It is said that the name "Rialto" was given by local resident Alexander Conlon in the memory of his career. Being a former actor he picked the word "Rialto", that was a common name for theaters throughout the U. S.
This is also a place of the first recorded shipwreck on Washington coast. An amazing story (the records are preserved at the Territorial Library at Juneau, AK) of love, courage, betrayal, and strong will for survival was told by Timothy Tarakanof, the supercargo of Russian brig "St. Nicholas", and later re-told by James A. Gibbs in "Shipwrecks of the Pacific Coast".

In about 20 minutes the trail reaches a Hole-in-the-Wall , that is fun to walk through, looking at baby mussels, sitting close together, starfish and other shore wildlife. If the water is still high there is a short steep trail just a little way to the right of the beach. A small beach with several nice campsites opens up from here. About 30 minutes of hiking bring you to a cliff that is impassable in high water. The cliff "guards" another pretty bay with sandy beach with some campsites (about 20 min), and a nice view of the islands. You can walk to one of them during a low water .

About half an hour hiking on a boulder beach (pay attention - the boulders are very slippery) brings you to Chilean Memorial. There was a monument that marked the grave of five men and one woman who died in a shipwreck in October of 1891. The concrete pillar has fallen down many years ago, and we were not able to find it. If you shall find it, please let us know. Still standing monument was made in the memory of a later accident also involving Chilean vessel that took place 29 years later, taking life of 20 people. Because of these two tragedies this place is also referred as the "Beach of the Dead". There is a campsite near the monument and a small creek, just in time to replenish your water supply.

It takes about an hour to round Cape Johnson - boulder beach makes it hard to walk. There is a chance you will see seals resting on the rocks or feeding in a sea. In about 0.5 hour the trail reaches Never Round Point, crosses it over to the north side and continues on a sandy beach for about another 20 minutes to an old shelter . Depending on the tide you can round the point either on the beach, or go uphill (the trail is marked). In about 10 minutes of easy hiking the trail passes Starbuch Mine, named after the owner. The mine was worked starting 1910 -1920 and abandoned by 1940. There is a campsite there.

Another 20 minutes hiking from the campsite lead to Norwegian Memorial . In 1903 Norwegian vessel Prince Arthur hit the rocks, snapped into two and foundered, taking life of 18 men, who later were buried by two fellow survivors. Look for fishing floats hanging from the trees, marking a short trail (100 feet) leading to the Memorial and campsites. From this point also a long time non-maintained Allens Bay Trail leads to Ozette Lake.

From the Memorial about an hour of difficult travel over wet and slippery boulders leads to a small creek. Then boulders beaches turn into gravel ones and hiking gets easier. Remains of the grey whale skeleton washed out onto the shore last year still can be found here . Gradually gravel turns into sand and the trail enters Yellow Banks. Campfires are prohibited from this point. There is a small creek right in the middle of the beach with campsites on the both sides of it. It takes about 20 minutes of easy hiking to cross the Yellow Banks and reach a point that can be rounded only at low water (about 2 hours after the high tide). Another 20 minutes of hiking on the gravel beach leads to Sand Point. The trail reaches a small creek and South Sand Point Trail trailhead, that leads to Erickson Bay, in another 20 minutes of easy hiking. There are several campsites and backcountry toilet not far from the trailhead.

Crossing Wish-wish Creek the trail reaches marked junction, where right fork leads to the creek, North Sand Point Trail goes straight, short left fork leads to Sand Point with several campsites and backcountry toilet.