Tidepooling on the Olympic Coast

Tidepools at Ruby Beach

Grant Longenbaugh

There are special places that allow you to see sea creatures up close without leaving the beach! Tidepools are home to fascinating creatures like sea stars, anemones, barnacles, nudibranchs, crabs, and more. 

Our partners at the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, with whom we share management of the intertidal zone, have these tips for tidepoolers:

• Bring a bag with you on every beach outing to pick up any paper, glass, metal or plastic trash that you find.
• Find footholds on bare rock-they're not as slippery and you'll avoid stepping on the animals and plants that cling to these surfaces.
• If you want to peek under a rock, put it back the way it was when you're done. Leaving a rock "belly-up" is an almost sure way to kill any animals that were living on its underside - not to mention those that dwell on its upper side.
• Always obey fish and game laws with respect to seasons, bag limits and sexes of animals taken for food. Intertidal animals should not be collected for bait.
• Refrain from building driftwood campfires, which can smolder beneath the sand for many weeks.
• Rough or excessive handling hurts animals. Never force an animal off its spot, you may tear off its feet, or squeeze its organs.
• Apply the "touch test"-an animal that resists being removed will cling more tightly-respect what the animal tells you with its "body language".

In addition, we always recommend:

• Watch closely for the returning tide and "sneaker waves."
• Algae and seaweed make the surface rocks extremely slippery. Use caution and test rocks before committing to stepping on new surfaces.
• Wear sturdy shoes that you don't mind getting wet.
• Keep children close as rocks and waves can be unpredictable, and falling hazards may lead to severe injury.
• Do not bring dogs onto tidal rocks as the sharp stone, along with barnacles and mussels, can cut their paws and lead to infection.
• Do not leap from rock to rock. Always keep at least one foot on the ground.
• Pick up or download a calendar of low tide times. While you can see tidepools during positive tide times (up to 1.5), the best low tide times are below 0 tide. Plan to arrive at the beach trailhead at least 30 minutes before the lowest tide.

Contemplating the teeming life of the shore, we have an uneasy sense of the communication of some universal truth that lies just beyond our grasp.... What truth is expressed in the legions of the barnacles, whitening the rocks with their habitations, each small creature within finding the necessities of its existence in the sweep of the surf? ...This meaning haunts and ever eludes us, and in its very pursuit we approach the ultimate mystery of Life itself.

- Rachel Carson, 1955, The Edge of the Sea

Details

Duration

30-180 Minutes

You can tidepool as long as the tides allow - be aware of the tide coming in and don't get stranded on a rock!

Activity

Wildlife Watching

Our partners at the Olympic Coast Marine Sanctuary, with whom we share management of the intertidal zone, have these tips for tidepoolers:
 

Easily observed by beachwalkers at low tide, the intertidal areas of the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary are ideal locations to learn about the sea and its resources first-hand.

However, for these areas and their inhabitants to thrive, all visitors must show care and respect for the life at the water's edge:

• Bring a bag with you on every beach outing to pick up any paper, glass, metal or plastic trash that you find.
• Find footholds on bare rock-they're not as slippery and you'll avoid stepping on the animals and plants that cling to these surfaces.
• If you want to peek under a rock, put it back the way it was when you're done. Leaving a rock "belly-up" is an almost sure way to kill any animals that were living on its underside - not to mention those that dwell on its upper side.
• Always obey fish and game laws with respect to seasons, bag limits and sexes of animals taken for food. Intertidal animals should not be collected for bait.
• Refrain from building driftwood campfires, which can smolder beneath the sand for many weeks.
• Rough or excessive handling hurts animals. Never force an animal off its spot, you may tear off its feet, or squeeze its organs.
• Apply the "touch test"-an animal that resists being removed will cling more tightly-respect what the animal tells you with its "body language".

In addition, we always reccommend:

• Watch closely for the returning tide and "sneaker waves."
• Algae and seaweed make the surface rocks extremely slippery. Use caution and test rocks before committing to stepping on new surfaces.
• Wear sturdy shoes that you don't mind getting wet.
• Keep children close as rocks and waves can be unpredictable, and falling hazards may lead to severe injury.
• Do not bring dogs onto tidal rocks as the sharp stone, along with barnacles and mussels, can cut their paws and lead to infection.
• Do not leap from rock to rock. Always keep at least one foot on the ground.

Pick up or download a calendar of low tide times. While you can see tidepools during positive tide times (up to 1.5), the best low tide times are below 0 tide. Plan to arrive at the beach trailhead at least 30 minutes before the lowest tide.

Pets Allowed

No

While pets may be allowed on some of the beaches where you go to tidepool, bringing them close to the pools can harm or alarm the small tidepool animals. The sharp rocks and barnacles that characterize tidepools can also cut and scratch dog's paws.

Activity Fee

No

While normal park entrance fees apply, there is no extra fee to tidepool.

Location

Ruby Beach

Ruby Beach is a beautiful tidepooling destination on the Olympic coast, along with Beach 4 and Hole in the Wall on Rialto Beach.

Reservations

No

Season

Summer

Summer generally has the lowest low tides, exposing more of the tidepools.

Accessibility Information

Ruby Beach
Length: Viewing area adjacent to parking area; beach access 735 feet
Surface Type: Compacted gravel
Typical Trail Width: 4-5 feet
Typical Running Slope: Numerous drain dips that create steep cross slopes
Typical Cross Slope: Mostly under 1%, though sections have a significant crown (higher in the middle than on the edges)
Description: Ruby Beach is the northernmost beach access point in the Kalaloch Area. All of the beach access trails at Kalaloch descend from the top of the bluff to the beach. They are generally steep and constructed to weather the 8.5 feet of annual rainfall. Winter ocean swells typically rearrange the beach logs at each location, so conditions at the point where the trail reaches the beach are constantly subject to change.

The Ruby Beach parking area is a sloped gravel lot with two vault toilets in the center. There is an accessible viewing area overlooking the ocean on the north end of the parking area, with a lower section of rail for wheelchair users on the left-hand side. Vegetation may obscure the view at sitting height.

The Ruby Beach trail is the only beach access wide enough for a wheelchair to reach the beach. Be advised that the trail is steep, has multiple drain dips and there is a drain across the trail at the halfway point that is 3-6 inches deep. The trail starts on the west side of the overlook and runs approximately 300 feet downhill at 10-20% to the first switchback, which is wide and has a trailside bench. There are 3 drain dips in the top of this section placed 50 feet apart. Continuing downhill at grades of 8-16%, there is an angled drain dip 50 feet below the switchback that forms steep cross slopes, and a wood cross drain at 365 feet that creates a 12-inch wide, 3-6-inch drop. The grade remains steep at 7-16% until 510 feet, where it drops below 5% for the remainder of the trail. There is a spur access to the beach at 575 feet. At 675 feet, the trail narrows to 3 feet before ending at the beach at 735 feet.