Possession Beach Waterfront Park trail

Location: Near Clinton, Whidbey Island

Length: About a half-mile.

Level of difficulty: Level to gentle sand/gravel and paved paths.

Setting: A steep, forested bluff of conifers, maples, and alders slopes down to a small marsh shielded from the waters of Possession Sound by a high, sandy ridge. This rare type of shoreline, a marsh/lagoon area in back of a barrier beach berm, formed when southerly wave action drove sand from the bluffs to the south at Possession Point up along the coast. This small, intimate park is very peaceful (when motorboats aren't in the area), except for the sounds of a wide variety of birds. On a recent visit, a woodpecker hammered from the upland forest, a red-winged blackbird trilled from the marsh and gulls cried from the dock pilings. An immature bald eagle perched on a tall Douglas fir. From the pebble and sand path along the top of the berm, views to the northeast include the Mukilteo-Clinton ferries plying the waters of the Sound, with Mount Baker looming in the background.

Highlights: This lovely beach park both preserves and allows access to a rare and valuable type of shoreline environment (less than 3 percent of all Puget Sound beaches of this type remain). Interpretive signs near the boat launch or the marsh bridge describe in detail each park habitat and its flora and fauna. This area, at the confluence of the waters of Possession Sound on the east and Admiralty Inlet on the west, offers a prime fishing spot for salmon, and bottom fish such as ling cod and true cod. For more information, call 360-579-2451.

Facilities: Restrooms, water, phone, dock and boat launch.

Restrictions: Leash and scoop laws in effect for pets.

Directions: Take the ferry from Mukilteo to Clinton. Follow Highway 525 northwest from the ferry dock for 2.7 miles. Turn left on Cultus Bay Road, which eventually turns into Possession Road, and follow it 6.5 miles to the water.

- Cathy McDonald

Special to The Seattle Times

Cathy McDonald is coauthor with Stephen Whitney of "Nature Walks In and Around Seattle," with photographs by James Hendrickson (The Mountaineers, second edition, 1997).