Grayland Beach State Park on Washington Coast: from Camping to Striking Sights

Published 01/28/21 at 3:26 AM PDT
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Westport, Washington) – Along the central Washington coast, where the world can get both extremely calm and excessively dramatic, there is one stretch near the paradoxically sleepy yet chaotic village of Westport that typifies this beachy dichotomy. Grayland Beach State Park is a delightful mix of these diverse elements, with a massive layout and a bundle of other cajoling discoveries. (Photo above courtesy Washington Department of Ecology).

A vast and sprawling beach, Grayland Beach is extremely wide with enormous amounts of space between the vegetation line and the tideline. From north to south, this flat beach goes on for miles and miles, blending in with other state parks to the north and south, as well as into Westport’s sands.

Behind it is an expanse of beach grass and soft dunes, varying in colorful shades of yellow and green, and a sandy incline where pliable, loose sands give you a bit of a leg workout heading to and from the beach. There, this strand is primarily a calm place, with mostly placid wave action – and even if it’s not the tideline is easy to stay far away from.

Every once in awhile this stretch can get fiery dangerous, where winter storms lash at deeper areas of the beach and make for hazardous moments.

Also on the interesting natural side, the photo above from Washington’s Department of Ecology shows the brown waves indicative of gobs of diatoms, a form of phytoplankton. [Bioluminescent Phytoplankton: What Makes Glowing Sand On Oregon Coast, Washington ] This may turn the sands brownish on occasion, but it’s all natural and these forms of phytoplankton are not only harmless but they’re a good thing. In fact, major blooms like this may also bring another form of phytoplankton that makes the sands glow at night. While Oregon Coast Beach Connection hasn’t received word of any particular incident, it does exist on the Washington coastline. Here at Grayland, being without any street lighting, the glowing effect will be spectacular.

Photo courtesy Steve Ginn / Flickr

Grayland Beach State Park itself is 581 acres of forested and sandy goodness, a favorite Washington coast spot for generations that features camping as one of its centerpieces. The park borders are some 7,449 feet of beach surrounding it, filled with various kinds of activities and people from all over, but especially regional locals from Washington State.

It’s a mix of rugged and civilized, with a variety of campsites, yurts and RV spots in the midst of what can only be described as a primeval forest at times.

For camping, Grayland State Park has dozens of full-hookup sites, with two being ADA sites. There’s almost 40 partial-hookup sites (two ADA), 16 yurts, four primitive sites and four standard sites. You’ll find four restrooms and eight showers. Camping loops are quite large, affording a good amount of privacy in most cases, and the paved driveways allow for large RVs. Campsites allow for one extra vehicle (with a fee).

Flooding is an issue in some areas of the campground, and thus parts of the campsite get shut down for the winter from November through April. Large pond-like areas can form close to those still-open campsites, which can bother some campers.

Yurts here are somewhat colorful and cozy – even cute. The interiors can be spry with inviting hardwood floors.

Clamming (when seasons allow) and crabbing can be had here, and one of the highlights can definitely be the over half-mile of trails meandering through the pines of Grayland. An amphitheater is on these grounds, adding spice to the event possibilities.

The real world is a short drive away, with some food spots in or close to nearby Grayland, Washington, along with shopping, groceries, etc. Or head a few miles north to visit the hamlet of Westport. There, wave action gets unusually insane under what are calmer conditions for the beaches. Hit the viewing tower when this happens and you’re in for a show of mammoth proportions. It’s some of the wildest sights on all the Washington coastline. More Photos Below

See https://parks.state.wa.us/515/Grayland-Beach for more. Call (360) 267-4301.

MORE PHOTOS BELOW

Photo courtesy Steve Ginn / Flickr

Photo courtesy Steve Ginn / Flickr

Photo courtesy Dave Sizer / Flickr

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