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.

Westport, Westhaven and Grayland Beach

Westport is a cute little beach town and while it’s small, you can find a number of activities to keep you busy. You can shop at a few local stores or eat lunch while enjoying views of the port and ships and sailboats nearby, walk the boardwalk at the port, walk the beach, surf or boogie board, visit the museum and lighthouse, go charter fishing or walk the paved dune trail.

On this visit, I enjoyed taking photos when the waves were willing to offer me a photo opportunity and Jozee enjoyed the beach by the bay, where she found nice sand she especially enjoyed digging in. 

When she was ready to relax, she enjoyed people watching...

Or letting the wind run through her ears.

We’ve been to Westport about every other year and a few years ago we even went charter fishing, which was a fun experience. Of course, dogs aren’t allowed and this was before we had Jozee. Given the fact that we had visited Westport often, where we always visited the port, the shops and museum and explored the beach along the bay, we were surprised during our last trip to discover we hadn’t visited all that Westport had to offer when it came to beaches. 

When we were ready to explore some more, we continued to walk west on the beach and up into and over the dunes. Once we reached the top, we were welcomed by the most spectacular sight…the ocean! 

We hadn’t realized that Westhaven State Park was located in this area or that it would give us access to the ocean and a beautiful surfers’ beach. That’s why we explore…and also why we should look at our maps more often.

The area of the beach on the ocean side was beautiful and during our visit the weather was perfect, which is a treat for the Washington coast. Jozee met a number of dog-lovers and other dogs as we trekked over the large dune to get to the beach. This visit was pre-Covid when Jozee would receive attention from a number of people we’d meet along the way who didn’t mind chatting for a few minutes.

Once we made it down to the beach, Jozee enjoyed watching all the activity between kids playing and visitors swimming or surfing.

We could have played at this beach all day, but we wanted to get a visit in at Grayland Beach before heading home because we hadn’t yet visited that beach. 

On the way there, we visited the campground at Grayland State Park and it was a nice find. We like to check out the local campgrounds near areas we enjoy visiting, in case we’d like to stay there, and this campground ticked a lot of boxes. They even had yurts to rent. It is definitely a park we wouldn’t mind camping at someday.

We arrived at Grayland Beach to discover it was much like Ocean Shores or Pacific Beach. There were a couple of kite vendors selling cute wind socks and other items and we enjoyed browsing for a bit while we decided whether or not to head home. It wasn't difficult to decide. The beautiful day was turning into a nice evening, which was the deciding factor, so we spent the rest of the day relaxing as we waited for the sun to go down.

We ended the day thankful to have enjoyed beautiful weather on our coast while we explored old haunts, as well as new.

Rainbow Falls, Long Beach & Cape Disappointment State Park

Some days we visit just one park, other days we cram a whole bunch into one day. On this particular trip, we ventured to three different areas and made it one long fun-filled day.

Our first stop was at Rainbow Falls State Park. It had been years since I’d visited this park, long before the original bridge over the river had been washed out, so that finding the park entrance took a little more time. Once we parked and began to explore the park’s day use area, memories flooded back to me of my visits there as a kid when we would stay in the campground. We quickly made our way to the river, after first stopping to get a look at a relic…a phone booth. The phone is missing and I don't believe the paper phone book was in the binder, but the booth was such an odd sight in the middle of the greenery at the park and seeing it just made me smile. 

The river walk was fun and the river was beautiful. We made our way down to the water to walk along the rocks and in the water and we also moved along the trail for more views of the river. Jozee enjoyed both the trail and a walk in the shallow areas of the river. The trail was easy and just enough for what we were looking for as a way to stretch our legs before hitting the road again. 

Our next stop was Long Beach, another area I hadn’t visited for quite some time. The beach is like any other Washington beach and this day was like many…cloudy and cool. But we enjoyed a walk along the boardwalk and in the sand and also had fun watching some pretty spectacular kites being flown by beachgoers that day. 

         

When we were ready to head indoors, we visited Marsh’s Free Museum, a tourist trap of the best kind. I’ve never been to Long Beach without also visiting this store. The museum is filled to the brim with your beach-related gift and souvenir items and so much more. It’s full of funky antiques and curios, to include antique arcade games and photo viewing machines, and oddities like Jake the alligator Man. It is a full-fledged curiosity shop and worth a visit. Jozee waited outside while we took turns exploring the store…I don’t think dogs were allowed inside but I also don’t know what she would have thought about some of the stuffed animals they have inside the store! 

After Long Beach we took a trip to Cape Disappointment State Park. Again, this is a park I’ve been to before but it’s been awhile and this was our first time with a pup tagging along. The park is very dog friendly and we enjoyed hiking up the trailhead past the lighthouse keeper's residence, Deadmans Hollow and an old bunker before we arrived at the North Head Lighthouse. Jozee met another pup along the way and they became fast friends. 

   

    

The weather was still cloudy when we arrived at the lighthouse but it began to clear up so that we were able to enjoy the surrounding views before we ventured back down the hill. The views from above by the lighthouse are truly beautiful on a clear day.

One note I should make is that this visit to Cape Disappointment was pre-Covid…I believe some of the park and access to the lighthouse is closed until further notice. However, when it opens up again, it’s definitely worth the visit if you haven’t had the chance yet.

We thought we were done for the day when we found another beach area nearby we’d never visited before. It’s called Waikiki Beach and it was a fun find. We had a different view of the lighthouse from across the water, rocks to explore, beach to access and it’s a beautiful beach cove with cliffs on one side and regular waves I imagine surfers often enjoy. We didn’t venture any further in to check out any trails the park might offer since it was so late in the day, which only means we have a reason to go back to this park someday.

Washington State has a beautiful coastline and while a visit to the beach is often cloudy and windy, you might get lucky with blue skies and sunshine to match the wonderful views. Since the weather can vary, it just gives you a reason to go back for another visit.

Tolmie State Park

    

Tolmie State Park is a great local park we have access to in our corner of the PNW. With three miles of hiking trails in beautiful forested land, as well as access to the beach and saltwater marsh, Jozee gave it 4 paws.

We hit the hiking trails first and really enjoyed the boardwalks and bridges, bunnies and birds and so many large beautiful trees! 

The forest in this park really is beautiful.

        

When we finally made our way down to the beach, we used the long boardwalk to get there. It made for a grand entrance. 

 

The tide was out which gave Jozee many smells and sights to see. We had to watch out for the crabs and sand dollars though, which were everywhere so that we had to watch our step. Low tide also means a large amount of seaweed left behind on the beach so we had two reasons to watch our step: not only for wildlife hiding underneath but also so we didn’t slip and fall! I regretted only wearing sandals so that I had to go barefoot rather than wear my water socks...seaweed in the toes is not a fan favorite.

          

Jozee was extremely curious about the crabs, but we made sure she didn’t get too close. A nip to the nose would have really spoiled the day! 

 

But she managed quite well and if she wasn’t sniffing out crabs, she was having a ball digging in the sand.

       

Tolmie also has an underwater scuba park, which I expect must be a treat for underwater enthusiasts, but it’s obviously not an experience you can partake in if you have pets with you.

Overall, this is a nice day park to visit, especially on a beautiful day when you can take advantage of the views across the Puget Sound.

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