The Silverdale Waterfront Park is the main attraction for boaters visiting the far north end of Dyes Inlet. Stout wooden floats attached to steel-and-concrete pilings extend into deep water from a tidy park. Silverdale’s charming Old Town is a block away, a sleepy reminder of the days when this was a logging and poultry-producing area. [...]

This 22-acre park is immediately north of Whiteman Cove, on the east side of Case Inlet. The setting here is striking, with a long, crescent beach beneath high bluffs. Upland are trails, campsites, picnic tables, shelters, barbecues and pit toilets. A few of the campsites are for those arriving by non-motorized craft or bikes only. [...]

The city of Renton has developed an extensive waterfront park amid the heavy industry at the south end of Lake Washington east of the Cedar River. Gene Coulon Park comes as a surprise when approached from the water, as so much of the shore is dominated by the dull gray buildings that contains one of [...]

Jones Island lies off the southwest shore of Orcas, at the north end of San Juan Channel. The entire island is a state park, with picnic areas, campsites and both pit and composting toilets. Trails connect the north and south coves, and loop around the western shore. Drinking water is available during the summer. This [...]

The Des Moines Marina, which lies opposite Maury Island’s Point Robinson, caters to every kind of boater. It has permanent slips and boathouses, a large and recently renovated area for guest moorage, and a hoist and ample parking for trailerable boats. A park and fishing pier border the north side of the marina, and the [...]

Alderbrook is at the far south end of Hood Canal, a mile east of Union. The small bight here is the best anchorage in the entire area. V-shaped, it has a sloping bottom and gives fair protection from north and south. Though tucked inside the canal’s Great Bend, you remain in view of the Olympic [...]

Editor’s note: This story has been updated from the original version. When local boaters talk about Port Madison, they are usually referring to the inlet on the north end of Bainbridge Island. Tucked inside the zigzag of this little harbor, anchored firmly to its mud bottom, you’re completely protected from almost any weather. The shores [...]