The glories of Hood Canal - includes related articles on food offerings, Victoria's restaurant, Union Country Store and a list of tourist attractions

Sunset, April, 1997 by Jim McCausland

* Contact: (206) 343-4344.

HOOD CANAL WATERSHED PROJECT

* Where: The trailhead is at the south parking lot of the Mary Theler Community Center, E. 22871 Highway 3 in Belfair.

* When: Dawn to dusk.

* Distance: 4.4-mile trail system.

* Description: Hood Canal plays out at Lynch Cove in Belfair. Alders, grassy fields, and old farm dikes give way here to marshes, mud flats, and the Union River delta. It's definitely hiking country - perhaps Hood Canal's finest.

Pick up a map at the center, then head down the trail, which begins as a boardwalk that threads through an alder swamp. Once you reach the treeless marsh that borders the canal, you'll get a stunning view due southwest straight down the center of the canal. Sometimes rainbows overarch the canal, but don't let such dazzling displays keep you from the details: foxes, deer, birds, and muskrats all move across the landscape here.

* Contact: (360) 275-0373.

TWANOH STATE PARK

* Where: Twanoh State Park is between mileposts 12 and 13 on State 106, about 7 miles east of Union Country Store. Park at the beach; the trail starts across the street.

* Distance: 2 miles round trip.

* Description: On warm summer days, Twanoh State Park is jammed with swimmers and campers. But in spring the place is empty, and that's okay - you want solitude when you hike in the green of Twanoh Creek.

Mosses and lichens cover the canyon floor and coat branches completely, ornamenting twigs with silvery fluff. The mosses are at their most verdant and colorful now (in summer they dry into stiff pastels), showing shades from crushed-velvet emerald and chartreuse to olive, gray, red-orange, and forest green.

Walk along the stream beneath cedars, firs, madrones, hemlocks, and maples to where the trail cuts up the west wall of this quiet canyon. On top, the trail swings through evergreen huckleberries and pines, then drops back to the road.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

For maps of the national forest land that parallels the canal's west shore, stop at the U.S. Forest Service office on U.S. 101 at the south end of Quilcene. Rangers here can direct you to the area's best drives and hikes, like the beautiful little waterfall walk at Falls View Campground 4 miles south of town.

The canal's other U.S. Forest Service office is in Hoodsport at N. 150 Lake Cushman Road (State 119). Here you can pick up information on Lake Cushman and Olympic National Park's beautiful, moss-hung east entrance at Staircase Campground, about 16 miles northwest of U.S. 101.

A great new book is Middle Puget Sound: Afoot & Afloat, by Marge and Ted Mueller (Mountaineers, Seattle, 1997; $14.95 paperback). It has a major section on Hood Canal, listing beach hikes, camping areas, and great oyster and clamming locations; to order, call (800) 553-4453.

Hood hideaways

INN AT LUDLOW BAY

Although Hood Canal's economy has been based on logging for 150 years, it is gradually shifting from timber to tourism. The Inn at Ludlow Bay is perhaps the best example of how successful that shift can be. All of its rooms have whirlpool tubs, and many have balconies. At the inn's restaurant, chef Joseph Merkling works magic with fresh Northwest staples. Local oysters and seafood are featured, but Merkling's signature dish is rack of Ellensberg lamb.