Marine View Park — Attraction in Normandy Park

Great bit of PNW shrunk down into a bite size hike in a quiet neighborhood. Heading to the right out of the parking lot will bring you towards the primitive hiking trails at this park. If you have a well-mannered dog and wish to take them on an off-leash hike, the primitive hiking trails are a good place to be. Heading left out of the parking lot will take you towards a paved walking path that is extremely steep, so steep in fact that fallen wet leaves may cause a hazard when trying to descend. Both the trails and steep path lead to the same point, a large set of wooden steps that switchback down to the beach. The public beach is extremely small and probably a half mile at best. Depending on the tide, the beach can be an interesting place to view some local wildlife in the tidal zone, such as crabs, sea anemones and the odd flotsam jellyfish. I bring my dog here regularly and he...

A lot of folks already posted several photos of the beach & staircase so I’ll share a few new ones. My family and I decided to take the wooded trail down to the beach & the paved trail back up. There's a spot before getting to the beach that has a lookout of Mount Rainier on visible days. Some areas are very steep and we found metal rebar sticking up from the ground. Had a lot of fun trail running but please watch your step. Didn't see very much trash but I think next time I visit I’ll bring a bag to pick up what we see. The hill walking back up the paved path( which is what I recommend) is a little strenuous but nothing terrible. Also be careful on the beach to not step in the glass. Overall it's a well-shaded park with a small parking lot, porta potty, two main trail options, driftwood beach park. Definitely worth the views...

The Marine View park hugs the steep slopes down to the Sound, giving visitors a picturesque descent through woods down to a buttering deck and stairs to the beach. You can walk the paved path or cut through the primitive trails that take you deeper into the woods and eventually break, giving you a view of the sound from above. The primitive trails loop, so you'll come back to the paved path before getting to the viewing deck. Be aware that while the hike is only about 1200 steps, you will be descending and ascending fairly steep paths. There's a small parking lot at the top and some portable toilets. The area seems fairly secure because it's in a residential space, but there the lot signs warn visitors to avoid leaving values in their cars,...