Weatherwax Trail & Chehalis River Basin Land Trust

Hidden in plain sight in the small town of Ocean Shores

Located on the northwest side of Grays Harbor, Ocean Shores is a six-thousand-acre peninsula stretching six miles long and two miles wide.  It is a mostly flat sandy land with an area where a true forest exists just in the middle of it all.  Roughly, in the center of town, there is a 121-acre parcel known as the Weatherwax nature preserve.  It contains a mixture of temperate coastal forest with old-growth trees, diverse forest vegetation, and habitat; 17 acres of rare mature forested wetlands; part of Duck Lake, and 1.2 miles of looping trails.

The story of the Weatherwax nature preserve started more than 65 years ago when Marian Weatherwax, born about 1909 to Anthony and May Rosmond Abel, became that parcel’s owner.   At that time, most of the peninsula was a cattle ranch. Ralph Minard used the area as a cattle ranch from 1929 until he sold it to the Ocean Shores Investment Corporation in 1960 for a reported $1,000,000.00.  Marian refused to sell her land for the first 30 years after Ocean Shores started to become a community.  It was still 8 more years before the­ first formal discussion about sparing the Weatherwax property from development occurred at a meeting in the home of Lillian and Gordon Broadbent.  Mona and Gary Kohler, a wildlife biologist with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, were also present along with Gene, Jane Swygard, and Ginny Thrupp.  Or so the story goes.

The following year, Mayor Pete Jordan worked out the city’s purchase of the property. For several years, the city looked at a variety of possible uses for the land, including a public park, golf course expansion, an aquarium, or housing.  Preservation vs. development became a political issue in the 2007 city council and mayoral elections. That year, the council voted to surplus part of the property on Duck Lake, with a developer hoping to put 27 houses on it along with a couple of fancy restaurants that people could boat up to. But the Citizens for Balanced Growth, a group started by the late John Clark, a retired marine biologist, led suit against the action. Soon after that, a pro-preservation council and mayor were voted in.  The following year, the council placed the issue on an advisory ballot; and that November, Ocean Shores citizens voted to retain all 120 acres.

In 2009, Ocean Shores Mayor Garland French proposed setting up a wetlands mitigation bank as a means of financing and maintaining the property in its present, mostly undisturbed state. 

Finally, in 2016, the Department of Ecology, the city of Ocean Shores, and the Chehalis River Basin Land Trust completed an agreement establishing the Weatherwax Wetland and Habitat Mitigation Bank, with maintenance to be handled by the city and oversight by the trust.

“The City of Ocean Shores will preserve, enhance, and operate the bank, referred to as the Weatherwax Wetland and Habitat Bank, and will permanently protect the bank site through a conservation easement. After an advisory vote of the people, the City of Ocean Shores worked for several years to preserve and enhance these wetlands and the associated habitat,” said Mayor of Ocean Shores, Crystal Dingler. “We are very excited about achieving this goal through this collaborative effort with the Corps and Ecology.” 

It truly is a magical place.

There are numerous rules and regulations in terms of the use and maintenance of Weatherwax Wetland and Habitat Bank. The city of Ocean Shores is supposedly not allowed to advertise it as a recreation area and dogs must be leashed. If at any time the Trust which owns it doesn’t like what’s going on with it, they can close it to the public. It has been reported “that the community made quite a fuss at the time the bank was established, but the mayor was determined to give it away to make money. The debt was, at the time, quite high. To date, we have sold only a small portion of the mitigation credits.”

More about the Land Trust that maintains the trails.

The Chehalis River Basin Land Trust works to conserve, protect and restore ecologically significant lands within the Chehalis River Basin.  The Trust holds over 4,000 acres and focuses on landscape scale preservation in the Grays Harbor Area. The Chehalis River Basin Land Trust was officially established in 1994 when it filed papers with the state of Washington to become a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. However, the organization began forming earlier, in 1992, initiated by a group of citizens concerned about the health of the basin’s waters and lands.

Their key duties and responsibilities include:

1. Land Conservation & Stewardship

• Acquiring and managing land or conservation easements to protect natural areas.
• Ensuring long-term protection of forests, wetlands, and riparian zones.
• Maintaining properties for ecological health and sustainability.

2. Habitat Restoration & Environmental Protection

• Restoring wetlands, forests, and streams to improve wildlife habitats.
• Monitoring and enhancing water quality in the Chehalis River Basin.
• Managing invasive species and reintroducing native plants.

3. Community Engagement & Education

• Partnering with local governments, tribes, and organizations to promote conservation.
• Providing environmental education and outreach programs for the public.
• Organizing volunteer opportunities for habitat restoration and trail maintenance.

4. Monitoring & Compliance

• Ensuring properties meet conservation agreements and legal requirements.
• Conducting regular site visits and ecological assessments.
• Overseeing protected lands, such as the Weatherwax Trail, to maintain public access while preserving ecological integrity.

The Chehalis River Basin Land Trust is 100% volunteer driven. That’s right! Not a single paid staff member. That means that even a small gift goes straight toward what matters.

• Buying shovels.
• Printing educational packets for local grade schools.
• Our rent and electricity.

With an annual operating budget of just over $12,000 — your dollar literally makes us cheer at our board meetings.

CRBLT is registered with the Land Trust Alliance in Washington, DC.

The Trail

If you ever find yourself in Ocean Shores, WA, check out this 1.2-mile loop trail. Note: it is not really a “loop”.  It is generally considered an easy route, it takes an average of 20 minutes to complete. This is a popular trail for birding, hiking, and walking, but you can still enjoy some solitude during quieter times of the day.

From my own personal experience :

The signs aren’t clear as the trail also connects with the Power Line Trail. The markers should be better positioned. This little trail feels like a hidden world in the middle of town.  It is very easy, well-worn, and mostly flat. Just watch out for the roots.  It is easy to be looking around at all the beauty and fall flat by tripping.  Also, beware of wildlife, including bears, cougars, raccoons, and deer.  Note:  It is illegal in Ocean Shores to feed the wild animals … “Keep the wildlife wild”.  For some people, it just feels great and like “another world” away from the crowds.  There are a couple of lovely benches along the way and some nice look-outs over the water.  The main trail dead-ends into Duck Lake.  From there I recommend turning around and going back the same way you came in. 

While Weatherwax is owned by the City of Ocean Shores and open to the public, the Coastal Interpretive Center holds a stewardship contract with the City to properly maintain the site. Since part of the Weatherwax area is an official wetland bank, there are specific state and federally mandated stewardship requirements.

Brief History of Ocean Shores

• Early Inhabitants: The Point Brown Peninsula, now home to Ocean Shores, was traditionally used by various local tribes, including the Chinook, Chehalis, and Quinault, for trading and other purposes.
• Captain Robert Gray’s Arrival: On May 7, 1792, Captain Robert Gray sailed into the bay, naming it Bullfinch Harbor. Later, Captain George Vancouver renamed it Grays Harbor in Gray’s honor.
• Early Settlers: Matthew McGee was the first known non-native settler on the peninsula in the early 1860s. He sold the southern portion to A.O. Damon in 1878, who established a trading post with a dock extending into the Oyehut channel. Damon eventually acquired the entire peninsula, which was later used as a cattle ranch by his grandson, Ralph Minard, until its sale in 1960.
• North Jetty Construction: The north jetty was constructed between 1903 and 1916 and has undergone several reconstructions, notably between 1941-1945, in the 1970s, and again in 2000.
• World War II Facilities: During World War II, both the Coast Guard and the Army had facilities on the southern end of the peninsula, near the current location of the Coastal Interpretive Center.
• Development in the 1960s: In 1960, the Ocean Shores Development Corporation began selling lots, leading to significant development. The Weatherly Inn, the city’s first hotel, was constructed during this period. The marina opened in 1963, and the SS Catala was brought in to serve as a “boatel.”
• Incorporation as a City: Ocean Shores was officially incorporated on November 3, 1970
• The Ocean Shores Public Library applied for and was granted by the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services a 1-year grant to orally record the early history of Ocean Shores.