Chetzemoka Park

Location: Port Townsend.

Length: About a quarter-mile stroll; about a mile round-trip with hike to Point Hudson Beach.

Level of difficulty: Level-to-moderately sloping dirt, gravel, and paved short trails, grassy lawn and access to beach.

Setting: This lovely 5-acre city park is set on a grassy hillside with a fine view of Admiralty Inlet and Mount Baker. Extensive gardens rotate blooming seasonal plants and wooden lawn swings offer a delightful place to converse while admiring the expansive views. The park was named after a local Clallam chief who had befriended the settlers and provided much-appreciated services, including warning the pioneers of intended massacres by tribes less tolerant of the new arrivals.

Highlights: At the beginning of the 20th century, the prominent women of Port Townsend decided that their seaport needed a proper park. They formed a civic-improvement club in 1904, which oversaw construction of a bandstand, shelter and elaborate water features that included a fountain, pool and waterfall.

Many of the water features are now gone, but the bandstand is modeled after the Victorian original, and a kiosk at the lower end of the lawn features old photos, park history and lists of local birds and plants.

Animals seen from the beach include river otters, harbor seals and sea lions. At low tide, you can walk the narrow sand or cobble (depending on the season) beach back toward town to Point Hudson Beach. This beach near the present-day marina was for thousands of years a settlement and gathering place for Native peoples, and a major crossroads for people traveling by canoe throughout Puget Sound.

Facilities: Restrooms and playground.

Restrictions: No bikes; leash and scoop laws in effect.

Directions: As you enter Port Townsend on Highway 20, drive through the downtown area on Water Street, turn left on Monroe Street, turn right on Lawrence Street, and then left in one block on Jackson Street. The park will be on your right in two blocks.

For more information: 360-344-3040 or www.ptguide.com/recreation/city.html or www.historylink.org.

— Cathy McDonald, Special to The Seattle Times

Cathy McDonald, a Renton-based freelance writer, is a regular contributor to Northwest Weekend.