Outing to Richmond Beach

This sun-soaked beach, 20 minutes north of the northern end of Seattle, has three parking areas, starting from the top of a hill with a sweeping view of the Puget Sound, ending on the lowest level nearest to the beach and public bathrooms, with a level in between, and stairs connecting all three. There is a playground between the middle and lowest parking lots, on a hillside that is part of a restoration project and hence not to be walked on, although confusingly, foot-trails can be seen criss-crossing through it. We went on a sunny weekday during the summer vacation, parking was abundant, and small groups of people were strewn about the park enjoying a relaxing afternoon out, some sunbathing on the grass near the upper levels, more heading straight for the beach, and most enjoying the beach in some way or other. My children spent a fun 30 minutes on the playground playing an imaginative game. I found it the exposed hillside too hot, and escaped to the shade under a tree on the lower parking lot. Inevitably, the children wound up wandering about the hillside looking for me, and I had to run up the stairs to gather them again. Afterwards, we crossed the footbridge over the train tracks to the beach, walked along the rocky, sandy beach, sat on a log, and had a mini picnic. We weren't sure whether the sewage leak into the Sound affected this beach, and also weren't keen to get our street shoes full of sand, so we kept clear of the sand, and people-watched.

View of the beach from the top-most parking level. Some people were content to sunbathe here, perched atop a hill, away from the crowd at the beach. 

Richmond Beach. It faces west, so it must be a great place to watch the sunset. 

Play structure on a sunny day. A merchant ship for some, battleship for others, and pirate ship for many!

On some Saturdays mornings, you can join a bird-watching group at this beach; there are eating establishments nearby, Richmond Village Shopping Center is a 6 minute drive away, and Edmonds and Lynnwood are both 15 minutes drive away. We drove to HMart where we had a late afternoon meal and shopped for the week's groceries, and bought Korean fried chicken home for supper.