After spending a bunch of time at Crescent Beach, we decided to explore one of the other beaches listed in Gem Trails. We moved on to the Harrison Beach Campground. They charged $5 for a day pass. We just filled out an envelope, put in $5, and dropped it into a box, and parked in one of the cam sites. It was a short walk down to the beach. The beach is covered with smooth rounded rocks. We walked around the beach picking up jasper and agate. There is tons of them here. My feet got soaked from the waves that repeated snuck up on me. The tide was slowly coming in covering many of the best rocky areas. But we left with plenty of agates and pieces of jasper. Harrison Beach Campground is located at 299 Harrison Beach Road, Port AngelesWA98363.
Interestingly, the TomTom GPS that I had in my car could not seem to get a satellite lock while in this area. I am not sure why. Maybe it was just an aberration. Or maybe there was something in the area jamming my GPS. I don’t know.
My wife and I were in Washington state visiting family. I bought a copy of Gem Trails Of Washington. We were staying in Kingston, so I looked for nearby places to find some good rocks. The nearest places were some of the beaches along the Strait of Juan De Fuca. The first beach we visited was Crescent Beach.
We parked in a parking area at GPS coordinates 48°09.66948′, -123°42.20334′. There is another smaller parking area nearby that is even closer to the beach. There was a small restroom here which was convenient.
This place is beautiful, with cliffs and a small island out in the water. The tide was out, so we just walked along the beach looking for and picking up small agates lying in the wet sand. I also found a couple small pieces of petrified wood. All the stones were smooth and rounded from the ocean. Tumbling them was a snap since most of the work was already done.
My in-laws live in Kingston, WA in a house that overlooks a beach on the Puget Sound. They don’t have direct access to the beach since there is a cliff there. But it is a short walk down the road to where I could walk down to the beach. The beach there is restricted to residents and guests. Since this place was so close, I spent quite a bit of time wandering along the beach looking for agates and jasper. There was plenty of both here. On previous trips, my wife and I sifted the sand looking for Sea Glass. There is some of that here too. I even found a really nice chunk of carnelian agate the size of a baseball. I kept that and gave it to a friend. I am hoping she will cut it in half.
It was very relaxing wandering along the rocky beach, listening to my mp3 player and looking for rocks. I am looking forward to coming back here next year.
Even though this beach is private, I am sure there are plenty of other beaches along the Puget Sound that are public and have agates and jasper, and who knows what else.
