Jetty Island– It may be manmade, but it’s naturally delightful!
Quick Facts:
Location: Everett
Land Agency: Everett Parks and Recreation
Roundtrip: up to 5.0 miles
Elevation gain: none
Difficulty: Easy
Contact: Everett Parks and Recreation Department
Notes: Parking fee $2.00 (credit card or exact amount cash)
Passenger Ferry runs on Wednesday through Sunday from July 5th until September 3rd and requires a reservation ($3 per person Wed-Thur, $5 per person Fri-Sun, children under 2 free). Consult website for ferry schedule and reservations information.
Dogs prohibited
Other rules and regulation in effect—refer to website
Access: From South take Exit 193 on I-5 in Everett and head west onto Pacific Avenue for 1.0 mile. Then turn right onto West Marine View Drive (which becomes SR 529) and continue for just shy of 2.0 miles turning left onto the 10th Street Boat Launch and Marine Park. From North take Exit 198 in Marysville and follow SR 529 (which eventually becomes Marine Drive) to 10th Street Boat Launch and Marine Park. Proceed to passenger ferry kiosk at waterfront.
Good to know: kid-friendly, beach walking, bird watching
Who would have guessed that one of the finest beaches in all of Snohomish County is in Everett? That’s right, Everett! No, not along this city’s developed waterfront, but just off of it! Jetty Island, to be precise—a two mile long sandy expanse that’s reachable by a five minute passenger ferry.
And if it wasn’t for Everett’s industrial past and developed waterfront, there would be no Jetty Island. It was created by man, not nature. Beginning in the 1890s, the Army Corp of Engineers built a jetty just north of Port Gardiner—then commenced to dredge a channel. The spoils along with silt and sedimentation from the Snohomish River eventually created an island.
It didn’t take long for sand to accumulate too from tidal influences. Plants began to colonize the island as well. Birds arrived—nested—and the island began taking on characteristics of a wild place. It is! The city eventually realized the natural (albeit manmade) gem that lay within its harbor. In the 1980s the Everett Park and Recreation Department began providing passenger service to the island. Today over 50,000 folks visit this sandy gem. Summer weekends can be busy and the parks department limits the number of visitors, so best plan on arriving early—and be flexible on your return trip as the ferry can only take 80 people at a time.
Once you arrive on the island, walk past a restroom (only one on the island) to a small picnic area and two “Discovery huts;” the site for regular interpretive programs. To the left of this area a small interpretive nature trail takes off south across salt marshes. To the west of the huts and picnic tables a well worn path passes by more tables and some volleyball nets to deliver you to the beach. And what a beach—especially during low tides when extensive sand flats reach into Possession Sound.
You can hike south on the beach to the jetty and north on the beach all the way the mouth of the Snohomish River Delta. A fairly large lagoon has developed just north of the island’s recreation area involving some channel crossing—unless you choose instead to walk around the bird loving lagoon. And you’ll see lots of birds on the island—sandpipers, osprey, kingfishers, herons, finches, ducks, and more.
A few trees have taken root on Jetty, but it’s mostly a place of little shade. You won’t be able to walk around the island as the channel side contains no beach. And the narrow interior of the island is cloaked in blackberry and other shrubs. But the beach is wide and smooth and you can easily walk 4 to 5 miles going from tip to tip.
On a sunny day, soak in views of the Olympic Mountains; Whidbey, Camano, and Gedney Islands; downtown Everett and a backdrop of Cascades Mountains. On an overcast day, savor the shadows in the sand and relative solitude enjoying this peaceful place that lies just minutes from downtown Washington’s sixth largest city. Jetty Island is more than just a breakwater—it’s a place to take a break from the urban world!
Jetty Island is one of the featured destinations in my Urban Trails Everett book, which includes hikes on Whidbey and Camano Islands as well. Get your copy today!
