McClane Creek Nature Trail

McLane Creek Nature Trail is a 1.5 mile-long trail located just outside of west Olympia inside the area known as Capitol Forest. The trail includes one large loop, which is connected to a shorter inside loop that skirts along the lake.

Although the trail is not far from the busy Westside scene, the park is quiet and secluded. It’s also a great local park option with many sights depending on the season. The lake is the residence of many ducks and other birds, and there are beavers and apparently even newts, if you can spot them. During the spawning season, salmon are running in the creek and we were lucky enough to catch that sight last time we visited the park. Jozee didn’t know what to think about all the movement and splashing going on in the water!

Along the longer outside loop, there’s a combination of boardwalk, platforms and nature paths where you’ll meet a number of beautiful trees with character. Along the creek side, there are observation platforms overlooking the water, which are helpful and great viewing points when the salmon are running.

On the shorter loop trail surrounding the lake, there are observation areas with benches where you can watch the gorgeous ducks and other beautiful birds and if you’re lucky, as we were the first time we visited, you might even spot a few turtles. Make sure to bring a pair of binoculars with you. 

Depending on the weather, keep in mind that the boardwalks may be wet and they can be a tad slippery…especially for anyone wearing shoes with no traction or holding onto a pup who likes to pull on the leash.

Another downside is that due to the smaller size of the park area and the limitations of space to roam due to the widths of the boardwalks (many of which are over water or swamp), it can feel a bit crowded if the park is maxed out. This is especially difficult during Covid times when social distancing isn’t as easy to adhere to, even if everyone is doing their best to walk in the same direction.

Overall, though, this is a nice spot to visit when you want to stay local or wish to stick with a shorter walk brimming with the possibilities of nature sightings.

Quinault Rain Forest & South Shore Trails

The Quinault Rain Forest is situated in parts of the Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest and is just one of many beautiful areas in both the park and forest that one can explore. We’ve traveled the loop around and through both parks (Hwy 101) while visiting and camping at a number of sites along the way, but it was many years ago and we decided it was time to add this stunning PNW area to our hiking list.

Once we arrived at the park, we found a place to park near the Lake Quinault Lodge and wandered the area. The day was cloudy, but it wasn’t raining and when you consider the rain forest receives something like 140 inches of rain in an average year, we were just happy to have a clear day.

We visited the beach along the lake, where canoes can be used to access the water, before moving up the hill toward the hotel. A wedding was taking place this day (it’s a popular location for celebrations) so some of the lodge wasn’t available to us, but we enjoyed what we were able to explore of this historic building, which was built in 1926.

Jozee wasn’t able to explore inside the hotel, so she was more than ready when we hit the South Shore Trails which we accessed across from the lodge. The area must be visited in person to truly feel the magic of the rain forest. We enjoyed every bit of our hike as we wandered from trail to trail.

After our walk, we ventured on and took the Quinault Loop Drive. We didn’t miss the nearby star attraction, the World’s Largest Sitka Spruce and while we’ve seen bigger trees, we couldn’t help but be impressed with its age…a mere 1,000 years!

The loop drive was a nice little adventure where we could stop to get out and explore further whenever we wished. We saw waterfalls...

Enjoyed a river walk...

Found a nice pond where Jozee could play near the river...

Spent time on a nice quiet beach along the lake...

And enjoyed the beauty of the forest along the way...

This area made for an enjoyable adventure and only validates how beautiful the PNW is, rain or shine. We look forward to exploring more of the areas around the Olympia National Forest and eventually the National Park.

Riffe Lake and Swofford Pond

Riffe Lake and Swofford Pond are both located near Mossyrock in Lewis County, a large county with many acres to explore. When we head out to the Mossyrock area, usually during blueberry season and for the Blueberry Festival, we make a point of visiting Mayfield Lake, especially one of our favorite parks we discovered last year, Ike Kinswa State Park.

But on this particular day, we decided to venture further past Mossyrock to explore parts of Riffe Lake and the surrounding area. And when I say only parts of the lake, I mean it because Riffe Lake is over 23 miles long. After the long drive and some exploring, we wanted to take a break and were thrilled to discover a quiet, cozy place to stretch our legs and eat lunch at an out-of-the-way rest stop near the Mossyrock Dam.

Jozee has a ton of energy but even she couldn’t deny the relaxing atmosphere we had all to ourselves was nice.

Once we were well rested, we explored more of the area around the lake and saw a sign for Swofford Pond. Curious, we drove the short distance to the pond, which we quickly discovered was a favorite fishing pond. There were multiple areas along the pond where someone could park, sit along the shore and throw out a line and there were also quite a few boats out on the water. Later after reading up on Swofford Pond, it appears to be home for a large variety of fish, even sturgeon, although it’s a rare find.

We drove around the lake, over a bridge and spotted access to the Swofford Pond trailhead. It was a nice, easy walk through grass, brush and trees, over creeks, through tight trails and wide open areas. It was a nice “jaunt.”

However, as we were leaving, we spotted a sign for yet another trail on the other side of the bridge on the road. This hiking-biking trail goes through Swofford Flats to Riffe Lake and it all but invited us to stay and explore. Too bad we had neared the end of the day and had to get back on the road.

Not only did we have another fun day exploring beautiful areas not too far from home, we have another new trail we can visit and explore some day.

Ike Kinswa State Park

Jozee as a wee one, just shy of 6 months

Have you ever visited an area multiple times and not bother to explore the surrounding areas? 

That’s just the case with us when it came to Mayfield Lake, located near Mossyrock in Lewis County. We would always end up at Mayfield Lake Park, more likely because it was easy access off of Hwy 12 for a day on the lake, especially if we were boating.

We’d explore the shores somewhat when boating while heading out on whatever excursion or activity was planned that day, but that was about it.

Until we introduced Jozee to the family and I got it in my head that we were going to do things differently with her than with our other dogs. We were going to get out with her more often and we were going to EXPLORE!

Ike Kinswa SP & Mayfield Lake

Now, in our defense, we always had multiple dogs, usually 3 or 4 at a time and they were big dogs so getting out with them to see the sights just wasn’t an easy task. On top of that, one of them in particular was very large, very protective and she didn’t play well with others. For anyone reading this who is just now contemplating what type of dog they might like to get, please take into account your lifestyle and the time and ability you’ll have to properly train and spend time with your new pet. If I knew then what I know now, I would have looked into early training not only for her, but also for myself.

Fast forward to today and we still have one of our large dogs but she’s up there in age (almost 11 years young) and doesn’t like to get out unless it’s on our property. Yes, there are dogs who don’t enjoy car rides! But Jozee is quite the opposite. She loves car rides. She loves just the idea that we’re going someplace. And she loves exploring, whether it’s in a familiar area or a brand-new spot.

Trail at Ike Kinswa SP

I guess we’re lucky Jozee likes car rides and meeting people, because what would have happened if I’d gotten it in my head to explore more only to discover she got car sick and was scared of new people?

Thankfully, that’s not the case.

So, back to the lake. Jozee was still pretty young, about six months old, the first time we decided to head out to Mayfield one beautiful day in May of last year. We thought we’d venture out and try a new park and we scored big time with our choice when we took a detour on State Route 122 in order to visit Ike Kinswa State Park.

The park had plenty of shaded parking, easy access to the shore, well-maintained trails and beautiful views on both sides of the shoreline. The fact that you had two shorelines to choose from was great; you could choose between more sun or more shade, calmer water or lapping waves formed by nearby boats. The beach areas had a lot of bigger rocks, so we had to stay vigilant, but it didn’t take away from Jozee’s fun. The real test was my overprotective mommy instincts when I realized how quickly the water dropped from a foot to…I didn’t even want to venture a guess. I just wasn’t brave enough to allow her to explore the deep beyond and she thankfully didn’t seem to want to go anywhere her feet couldn’t touch.

I had Jozee on a tight leash, just in case
she did decide to brave the deep part

Given Jozee’s young age, the easy trail walk was great and we explored the whole area, except for the swimming beach which doesn’t allow dogs. Other than that, this park was very dog friendly. Exploring the campground was enjoyable too because the campsites were all very nice and the cabins nearby the swimming area were a great addition. We made a game of choosing our favorite campsite if we were to stay there and it was very difficult; like looking for the perfect Christmas tree, only to find yet another perfect tree in the next batch.

Enjoying some shade

We enjoyed this park so much we returned a few months later in the summer and it has become our new favorite go-to whenever we visit Mayfield Lake.

In Jozee's book, it was a good day