Location: Tacoma/University Place
Address: 6320 Grandview Dr. W.
Acreage: 930
This amazing park just south of Tacoma makes for a fantastic year-round outing. My favorite time to visit is on a clear winter or spring day when the Puget Sound seems to sparkle in the sunlight.
Chambers Creek feels almost other-worldly with most of its 930 acres devoid of trees and strange crumbling concrete structures puzzling visitors. (More on those soon.) The famous golf course sits at the center of the park, with the publicly accessible recreation surrounding it.
Definitely plan on taking the three-mile loop for the best access to all corners of this spectacular park. The wide paved path is a popular walking and running loop, especially on the weekends. You won’t find solace on it, but there are lots of quieter parts of the park you can reach from the path.
Highlights of the park that you’ll find as you walk the loop include a children’s playground, stunning views of the golf course and Sound, two miles of beachfront reachable by unique pedestrian bridge, an off-leash dog park, and reservable sports fields and event lawn.
The coolest sight, though, is the collection of alien structures near the waterfront. Remnants from gravel mining that was one of several previous uses of the land, these concrete structures dwarf visitors. See pictures of the area from when it was still an operational quarry here.
Explore off the central loop trail and you’ll find additional nooks of the park including several shorter trails.
This precious piece of land was originally a village for the Steilacoom Tribe. Learn more about the area’s rich history (including mill-owner Thomas Chambers and nearby Steilacoom, our state’s oldest incorporated town.)
#507 (Visited 3/18/20)