Visit Hood Canal in Western Washington

Since I am unable to visit British Columbia right now because of the wild fires I figure that I want to see places a bit closer to home. The main reason I was going to British Columbia was to visit cousins I still want to see wonderful places and why not close to home.

One of the lovely places is the Hood Canal. It starts at Port Gamble on the edge of the Puget Sound and ends at Belfair. Usually when I have travelled I have gone from Belfair side and not Port Gamble. I haven’t travelled around the whole Hood Canal so it would be interesting to do so.

Often as a kid our family would go to Twanoh State Park which is about ten miles from Belfair. My brothers and I would spend the day swimming and playing tennis. One time we spent several days at Twanoh camping out.

Continuing past Twanoh there are a number of small towns that you can go through. Great places to stop for lunch. One of the small towns is Hoodsport which is close to Cushman Dam. At Hoodsport you would travel east for about ten miles to reach Cushman Dam. Like much of the Hood Canal there are a lot of cabins along with small homes. Many people spend their time during the summer and weekends living on the canal. Also more people are retiring now as well and living on the canal full time.

There are a couple ways to get to the Hood Canal from Seattle. You can take the Seattle-Bremerton ferry over to Bremerton and go south a few miles and then follow the signs for Belfair. Also you can go north toward Port Gamble as well. Another alternative if you don’t want to take the ferry you can go south to Tacoma and take Highway 16 to Bremerton and then follow the signs as well. If you like can stop in my home town of Gig Harbor for coffee or a meal or walk around the waterfront.

The Hood Canal is how you can travel to Olympic National Park and Forest; also where I would like to visit as well. Continue going west you can get to the Pacific Ocean. There are routes on Highway 101 to Oregon going south or north up to Forks, Port Angeles and Sequim before crossing the Hood Canal Bridge near Port Gamble. Many places you can hike and camp if that is what you really enjoy doing. This is a great way to enjoy seeing Western Washington besides spending time in Seattle.