Kopachuck State Park

An easy loop trail for novice hikers to manage, visitors will find that wandering nearly one mile through is a forest of bigleaf maple, as well as cedars on the shores of Carr Inlet in Gig Harbor. Kopachuk State Park has an elevation of fewer than fifty feet, but it offers plenty of picnic tables for people to enjoy a meal together while catching up with each other. 

It is the perfect destination for families with children and pets. The state park has a short, and family-friendly trail loop which showcases salmonberries in the spring and summer. The licorice fern, sword fern, and the horsetail fern are just some of the unique plants that visitors will find on the grounds. 

Aside from the ferns, there is also cedars and maples, so if you are honing your identification skills of different plants, this is the place to go. Take your camera with you because the waterside views of the Key Peninsula across Henderson Bay and Carr Inlet are something to behold. 

The distant peaks on the Olympic Peninsula are something worth taking a picture. Although the park offers two shaded hiking trails where you can take Spike with you, most of the fun happens on the beach, a trendy spot for families to go wading. 

Peddlers and boaters can cruise the shoreline or make the half-mile trip to Cutts Island, which is a small clay butte with a few trees. During low tide, the island beckons with a tear-shaped beach. Kopachuk State Park has 280 acres of day-use marine park with more than 5000 feet of saltwater shoreline. 

A Discover Pass is a requirement for vehicles to get in for day use. Some of the other activities that families can enjoy are waterskiing, swimming, crabbing, diving, bird watching, clamming, and oyster harvesting. Dog scooper bags are not provided for free, so pet parents must bring some to pick up after their dogs immediately.