Worth the Hike : Kalaloch Beach Tree of Life

Images by: James Fields

Recently, friend Wes and I made a day trip out to Kalaloch Beach with the goal of doing the Kalaloch to Browns Peak hike to see the infamous Tree of Life. The hike is marked on the Washington Trail Association website as being a four-mile hike along the beach. The parking lot we parked in had the staircase down to the beach roped off with signs pointing us down to another staircase in the campgrounds to the south.

It was fun finding this campground, because some of these campsites sit at the edge of the cliff overlooking the ocean, and I am determined to camp there next year. To fall asleep to the gentle sound of the ocean lapping and to eat your meals to the beautiful sight of pristine beaches calls to me like the siren call of comfort and joy.

Once we descended to the beach, we realized we didn’t know if this hike was supposed to be two miles south or two miles north. We tried to use the internet, but found that the service there was pretty spotty. Eventually, we decided we’d head north and keep an eye out for the Tree of Life along the way.

It was a beautiful sunny day, and there seemed to be a mystical fog hovering over the beach. We walked along the beach watching seagulls walk around and lounge about. Occasionally, we would get our feet wet in the cool water. It was a perfect day full of conversation and laughter.

We knew that two miles into this hike, we’d see a small waterfall on the right. We found that pretty easily, but never saw anything resembling the Tree of Life. We opted to keep going and wound our way through a really interesting area with 20-foot-tall boulders creating a kind of maze that can only be navigated at low tide. We were able to spot some cool seastars and see anemones. A fun little arch that I definitely felt the need to walk under.

Ultimately, we walked well over two miles, never seeing the Tree of Life and turning back a little disappointed, thinking we had hiked the wrong direction back at the start. We kept our eyes open all the same, hoping that somehow we just missed it. But as we walked the two miles back, we continued to find nothing.

It wasn’t until we were trying to figure out which staircase we had used to get down to the beach that Wes pointed and declared he’d found it. And there on our left, directly in front of the staircase we would have used, had it not been roped off, was the Tree of Life. Nestled among the cliffs, roots hold the land together like a quilter's knot. It was surrounded by a host of people taking pictures and enjoying this marvel of a tree. We couldn’t believe we missed it! Perhaps it was our confusion about which way to go and scouring the internet on our phones instead of looking at the cliffs around us that caused us to miss it. But honestly, finding it at the end of a four+ mile hike made it an even more perfect treasure.

This hike is definitely worth a trip. The beach is wide and clean and perfect for playing catch, flying kites, relaxing, and exploring!

Kalaloch Beach

Learn more

James works for a local Everett-based company and enjoys board games, hiking, and food. You can find him playing Kubb at a local park or getting lost in the woods.