Crescent Beach Preserve — Attraction in Washington

A little gem close to Eastsound. I like to bike or walk the trail and it's a nice loop for a run from town. The forest was raveged from the epic 1990 windstorm and ensuing timber salvage. As a consequence, a very dense stand of conifera came up and, until recently, created a merkwood like stand with little understory and high high fuel load. A WA DNR funded fuel reduction and tree thinning project in 2025 has successfully created a much more diverse and healthy collection of stands. The fire danger is much reduced and you can actually see into the forest! Hey, it's now a structuraly complex two age-class stand! .....shout out to Rain Shadow Consulting who won the contract.....locals...

My family, based in the Seattle area, visited Orcas Island more than a dozen times for vacations during the summer. On our last trip to the island in 2010 we came to Crescent Beach Preserve and enjoyed the little hike which the trail allows for very much.

Worth a visit if you are on the island and would like to experience a great forest...

Nice place to take a little stroll on the beach, especially if you're heading in or out of Moran State Park. Lots of great shells and...