Have you ever seen a cotton ball hopping around on the sand?

You will see all kinds of birds at Leadbetter Point State Park on the upper Long Beach Peninsula, between Willapa Bay and the Pacific Ocean.

So, bring out the binocs, field guide, tripod and camera and scan the horizon for eagles, peregrine falcons, brown pelicans, terns and ducks. The park's forest is also alive with feathered friends - western tanager, warblers and black-headed grosbeak in summer, and chickadees, kinglets and thrushes year round.

If you come at the right time of year (March through September) and you're lucky, you may even see a snowy plover chick. These spotted white puffs look like energetic cotton balls - serious cuteness alert! They – and their elegant parents, are an endangered species, and many begin their lives on the sandy beaches of Leadbetter Point. Just watch your step and stay within marked walking areas.

This small day-use park is adjacent to the expansive Willapa National Wildlife Refuge. And if you'd rather watch the avian action from the water, the Willapa Bay side of Leadbetter Point is kayak, canoe and paddleboard-friendly when the tides and the weather cooperate.

Looking for a quiet day at a seaside forest? Leadbetter is a lesser-known park, so you may have the place to yourself. As long as you don't mind sharing it with the denizens of the sky.

Leadbetter Point State Park

Pacific Pines State Park, on the western side of the Long Beach Peninsula, offers a classic day at the beach, southwest Washington-style.

Dune grasses and knobby shore pines drop gently down to the wide, sandy, Pacific Ocean shore. This 10-acre day-use park is ideal for playing and walking on the beach, birding, fishing, shellfish harvesting and watching the sunset.

Pacific Pines rounds out any trip to the Long Beach Peninsula, with its charming small towns, famous cranberry bogs and historic sites of Cape Disappointment to the south. The park makes a relaxing stop for a romantic picnic, quiet solitude or family fun.

State Parks Tagged With: Ocean Park