Fresh Shellfish from the Source
Want to visit the farmers that wake up on the night tides to bring you the perfect oyster, clam or geoduck? Check out these farms on and around Hood Canal!
You’ve heard it before – those dang months with the “r.” Well, technically local oyster farmers don’t agree, bivalves have a much longer season, Some of the best shucks are in May – but there is something to be said for a fall or spring oyster over a “peak of the summer” one. That’s why fall IS the perfect time to follow the shellfish trail and visit local farms that grow the food you love. Let’s meet a few local growers that wake up on the night tides to deliver you the perfect oyster, clam or geoduck.
In Search of Perfection
Want to meet the farmers that wake up on the night tides to bring you the perfect oyster, clam or geoduck? Check out these farms on and around Hood Canal!
Capital Oysters & Seattle Shellfish
South Puget Sound | capitaloyster.com
5th generation oyster farmer, Tom Bloomfield, tide tumbles Capital oysters that are suspended off the ground. The growing process results in a smooth, super deep shell as each oyster captures the essence of the beautiful ocean waters, free of sand and zero muddy tastes.
Chelsea Farms & Olympia Oyster Bar
Chelsea Farms | photo:poppi photography
Eld & Totten Inlet
Chelsea Farms is a current working model of environmental sustainability. They have made a priority of farming the Olympia Oyster, a native oyster to Olympia, that was on it’s way to extinction. Specialties include their Chelsea Gem, Bonita, and Olympia Oysters, along with fresh clams and geoduck. Visit their Oyster bar in downtown Olympia to get the ultimate local seafood experience!
Let’s Go:
CHELSEA FARMS OYSTER BAR
222 CAPITOL WAY N, OLYMPIA, WA 98501
Phone: (360) 915-7784
Hours: TUES-FRI 11AM-9PM, SAT 10AM - 10PM | SUN 10AM - 9PM
menu
The Fjord Oyster Bank
Sea Nymph Oysters
Hoodsport & Hammersley | southsoundoysters.com
24341 N Hwy 101 Hoodsport | (360) 877-2102
For the last decade and a half the Hansen family has been raising oysters and clams on South Puget Sound's nutrient rich waterway, Hammersley Inlet. Through a tumble bag and a bag to beach process these oysters have distinct merrior as well as shape profiles resulting from their growth process despite being in the geographic. The tumble bag Hemingways have a sweet cucumber finish while the beach finished Sea Nymphs have a kelpy taste. Hemingway Sweets roll in deeper water and have a deep cup, sweet flavor and a full-body crunch. Hemingways (coined from Ernest Heminway's famous oyster quote) as well as Sea Nymphs, are available for raw and grilled preparation at their Hoodsport café and Oyster Bar, Fjord Oyster Bank.
Let’s Go:
Fjord Oyster Bank Oyster Bar
24341 N Hwy 101, Hoodsport
Phone: (360) 877-2102
Hours: THUR-SAT 8AM-7PM, SUN 8AM - 6PM | Closed MON-WED
menu
Hama Hama Oyster Farm
Lilliwaup, Hood Canal
A few years ago the Hama Hama Oyster Co opened their Oyster Saloon in Liliwaup. This high energy destination serves oysters pulled from the last tide and prepared to order with an ever changing menu of seasonal local ingredients. In their retail shop you can purchase a variety of their Hood Canal product including salmon and oysters smoked on site. Hama Hama is a 5th generation family run farm with a reputation for quality and environmental mindfulness.
Let’s Go:
HAMA HAMA OYSTER CO
35846 US-101, Lilliwaup, WA 98555
PHONE: (360) 877-5811
FALL Hours: Farm Store Daily 9:30 to 5:30
Oyster Saloon Check website for details
Shellfish is available in their retail store, Saloon and at parent restaurants throughout the Northwest. Product also available online and shipped directly to your home.
Olympic Oyster Co. & Mike’s Beach Resort
Eldon, Hood Canal
Third-generation farmers, Matthew and Sara are serious about producing some award winning oysters on site for market and available at restaurants as far away as New York. Guests staying on the active farm aka Mike’s Beach Resort have first dibs on some of the freshest oysters on the fjord!
Let’s Go:
Mike’s Beach Resort
38470 N US Highway 101, Lilliwaup, WA 98555
Phone (360) 877-5324
Waterfront cabins and rooms, with view of the canal.
Taylor Shellfish
South Puget Sound and British Columbia
Stop in at Taylor Shellfish’s headquarters and visit their market near Shelton. Taylor’s specialties include the famed Kumamoto (sweet fruity flavor) and the Virginica (Crisp, briny, and buttery). The company has been farming oysters on Puget Sound since the 1890’s when great-grandfather Justin Taylor began farming Olympias. Five generations later, the company’s product line includes worldwide export of geoduck, clams, and mussels along with oysters.
Let’s Go:
TAYLOR SHELLFISH RETAIL STORE
130 SE Lynch RD Shelton WA, 98584
PHONE: (360) 432-3300
Hours: Open for curbside pick up Monday - Sunday: 10am - 6:00pm; Closed all major holidays
Shellfish is also available at one of their many locations throughout NW Washington. Product also available online and shipped directly to your home.
Vance Creek Railriders | Pedaling the historic tracks
Here’s what to expect when you pedal the rails on the historic Simpson Logging tracks near Shelton.
Vance Creek Railriders is a popular activity near Shelton, WA. Have you made your reservations yet?
The rails are part of an old track built by the Simpson Logging Company, so along with clacking past beautiful wooded scenery, passing meadows of foxgloves and crossing over creeks lined with ferns, Vance Creek’s rail journey follows a snapshot of the Northwest’s rich logging history. Until not that long ago, timber trains moved logs along these very rails to the mills in nearby Shelton, in fact this system was the last operating privately-owned logging railroad in the continental US.
When you arrive, don't be alarmed when you leave the main road for a short hop on a gravel logging road to Camp 1. The gravel road is well maintained (even the school bus follows it in rural Mason County), you will soon find yourself at the Vance Creek Railriders office. Arrive 30 minutes early as there is a safety briefing before heading out to get adjusted in your seats.
What to Expect
As you pedal the multi-seat "railrider" along the track you will have the opportunity to see old growth and new forests as well as diverse meadows teeming with wild flowers, moss, and maybe even catch a glimpse of some wildlife – although cheering, laughter and distinctive trail clacking seems to put them on the alert! You will pedal down across the winding Goldsborough Creek and return back up the gradual grade.
Yes, despite its leisurely pace, this is a physical adventure. Most guests are able to pedal the average .75% grade back up to Camp 1 with a portion of the rail at a 2% grade (it’s all downhill on the way there) . But don’t worry – if you struggle, the little “engine” will give you a push back up the slight grade if needed.
This gentle, but vigorous ride is suitable for (and enjoyed by) all ages. Chidren under 12 years old need to be accompanied by an adult on their railrider (four seats). The typical age to be able to help pedal is 6-8 years old depending on leg length. Smaller children who can’t touch the pedals or who are known to be a wiggle worms can use a car seat. Visit the Vance Creek’s FAQ page for answers to common questions.
Be sure to dress in layers as you will be traveling in wooded area where it can go from shade to sun. Also bring snacks and water bottle as the location of the start of the railride is fairly distant from Shelton.
Reserve in Advance
The popular pedal-powered rail rides with Vance Creek Railriders is open for their 2024 season with daily departures of the 2-hour excursion at 9 AM, 12 PM, and 3 PM, Thursday through Monday. Arrive 30 minutes early to check in and hear a safety briefing.
The rail head is at 421 West Hanks Lake Road, nine miles west of Hwy 101 on the Shelton/Matlock Rd.
Five Northwest Books to Read While the Rain Falls
Okay, we’ll admit it: snuggling down against a winter storm under a mountain of blankets with a hot toddy and a snoring dog sounds like unabashed bliss for the bookworms among us.
The weather on Hood canal is ever changing and unpredictable. Sometimes it offers the perfect excuse to take a break from dodging rain soaked branches and curl up with a great book. Snuggling downunder a mountain of blankets with a hot drink and a snoring dog sounds like unabashed bliss for the bookworms among us.
While Netflix may dominate others’ rainy afternoons, we dare you to rebel with good old-fashioned literature. We pared our favorite Northwestern fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and kid’s books down to five of our favorites. There's lots of choices and chances for good book conversation and recommendation at the local branches of the Timberland Regional Library in Shelton, Hoodsport and Belfair.
1. The Mushroom Hunters: On the Trail of an Underground America by Langdon Cook
As with most of the delicious and sought-after delicacies the world has to offer, decadent morels, luxurious truffles, and other elusive mushroom treasures are hidden away in hard-to-access places. Seattle author Langdon Cook juxtaposes the high-class, refined people to whom these mushrooms are presented with the rugged denizens who forage for them in the Northwest’s most inaccessible woods. Seized by Gold Rush-like desires, this rough and territorial lot hauls hoards of edible fungi from the misty hills. As much a culinary history lesson as it is a compelling and character-driven narrative, The Mushroom Hunters is a must-read for someone as enchanted by adventure as by the world of fine dining.
This book is available for download and audio book Grab a library card and click here.
2. Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey
Although Kesey may be better known for his Jack Nicholson-endorsed One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, his epic Sometimes a Great Notion is arguably the quintessential Northwest novel. Many claim that it’s one of the greatest American literary works of all time, period. Its setting is a fictional costal city in Oregon at the confluence of the also-fictional Wakonda Auga River. The parallels between this old waterlogged logging town and historical Hood Canal are stark. The gravity with which Kesey is able to illustrate man vs. land in this masterpiece is powerful for a reader curled up with a Northwest winter gale at her window. It is an experience that sticks with the reader long after the book is returned to the shelf.
This book is available for download and audio book as well! Grab a library card and click here.
3. Long Journey: Contemporary Northwest Poets by David Biespiel
In his eloquent introduction, editor David Biespiel writes, “A Northwest poet’s impact on our sense of how we see the Northwest may be greater than the Northwest’s impact on the poet.” As such, poets included in this anthology were born in the Northwest…and elsewhere. Likewise, their poetry revolves around images of recognizable Northwestern iconography…or not.
This collection evades reduction to a single concrete theme, but the Northwest lives and breathes within these pages. They grasp at and, in a quirky way, get ahold of what we see and feel while we’re here. Let the 80 poets in this masterpiece impact how you see our Northwest.
This book is available through the Timberland Library System. Click here to order
4. The Far Corner: Northwestern Views on Land, Life, and Literature by John Daniel
John Daniel blurs the lines between natural, literary, spiritual, and human history—to the reader’s delight. As much of a personal memoir as it is a meditation on the relation between man and nature, these 18 wide-ranging essays attempts to capture the Northwest’s character as a whole.
Both lyrical and informational, this collection entices those who are eager to learn, and those who are eager to be entertained. A winner of the Oregon Book Award, this work belongs on the shelf of everyone who has stepped foot in Hood Canal.
5. Where Would I Be In An Evergreen Tree? By Jennifer Blomgren
A story to delight the little ones, this work by Northwesterner Jennifer Blomgren follows the lifecycle of an evergreen tree. Her smooth verse is gently informative, while Andrea Gabriel’s pastel images in soft greens, quiet blues, and warm browns illustrate the host of animals that inhabit these northwestern deciduous behemoths.
Blomgren’s other works, like Where Do I Sleep? and Why Do I Sing? are equally as educational and comforting for kids adventuring through Hood Canal. This is one to keep in the car on your next road trip.
For more suggestions and ideas to enhance your experience in Hood Canal, keep up with us on Facebook, and Instagram. Share photos of your bookworm selves with us—we love to feature photos! Tag your social media with #wildsideWA. Cheers to the page-turners!
Get Your Carve On: George Kenny’s Chainsaw Carving School
That funky wooden bear was a staple to your grandparent’s front yard, and there’s always the one quirky neighbor on the block that has one—but did you know there are entire competitions centered on chainsaw carvings? Did you know there exists a chainsaw carving school in Allyn that will teach you how to make one of your own? Truth and truth.
That funky wooden bear was a staple to your grandparent’s front yard, and there’s always the one quirky neighbor on the block that has one—but did you know there are entire competitions centered on chainsaw carvings? Did you know there exists a chainsaw carving school in Allyn that will teach you how to make one of your own? And almost always has a live demonstration going on? Truth, truth, and truth.
George Kenny and his wife Diane own a combination wine shop and chainsaw carving school in Hood Canal, and people flock from all over for a chance to have at an old log with a chainsaw. As Brian Ruth, professional chainsaw artist was noted as saying, “If Michelangelo had had a chainsaw, he probably would have used it.”
There’s a whole culture centered on chainsaw carving, and George is equipped with over 20 years of experience creating and teaching. His introduction class teaches a myriad of skills and equips students with the know-how to keep at this quirky art form.
At the time of its first settlement, the Olympic Peninsula depended, and came to thrive on one of its most prolific natural resources—wood. Founded in 1890, Simpson Lumber Company, operating out of Shelton (just a short jump from Allyn) is one of the oldest, continuously operating lumber companies in the Pacific Northwest.
A history rooted in woodcraft breeds artistic culture centered on it. The primitive craft of woodcarving has evolved over time coinciding with the invention of technology like the chainsaw. Contemporarily, chainsaw carving encompasses a sweeping variety of styles, skill levels and themes—some artists prefer to be strictly performance artists.
George Kenny is a wealth of historical, artistic, and technical information when it comes to chainsaw carving. It’s surely reflected in the varied and intricate carvings that fill the yard surrounding his school, and studied by the staggering number of people that have taken his class over the years.
If perusing mind-blowingly intricate, carved wooden oddities is up your alley, the Kennys care to host, boasting an extensive sculpture garden chock full of quirky creations ranging from NW native creatures, to native inspired works of art, to classic bears and more. To peek at this spectacle, stop by any day of the week between 9am and 5pm.
And, at the end of an afternoon poking around all corners filled with over 600 carvings, bounce next door to Top of the Cork for a tasty sampling of locally sourced wines.
There’s never a lack of fun, new, sometimes out-there things to do in Hood Canal. Keep up with us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
The Mountains are calling... ANSWER!
A weekend warrior is a 21st century beast whose population seems to be exponentially growing. As the “rolley chair blues” epidemic proliferates across the Pacific Northwest, so does the drive to combat it with an epic 48-hour adventure.
A weekend warrior is a 21st century beast whose population seems to be exponentially growing. As the “rolley chair blues” epidemic proliferates across the Pacific Northwest, so does the drive to combat it with an epic 48-hour adventure.
Here’s to those who burn the midnight oil finishing up reports and rise with the birds to knock presentations out of the park. This one’s for those who are at the gym until it closes so that their lungs are ready to be filled with alpine air come Saturday morning.
For those that simply cannot wait to escape Seattle’s concrete jungle when the clock hits 5 on a Friday, we have good news: Hood Canal is waiting for you in your backyard.
How to Get to Union, Washington
The Bremerton Ferry sets sail from Pioneer Square in the heart of Seattle over 15 times a day. As it scoots around Bainbridge Island, the impressive Olympic Mountains rise ever higher off of the water as your weekend playground draws ever nearer.
A short 45 minutes from the Bremerton Ferry Terminal lands you at Alderbrook Resort & Spa. But you’re a weekend warrior—you’ll take the extra half-hour trip to Lake Cushman. Or possibly even forge on a bit further in order to get in the thick of it with a visit to Staircase in Olympic National Park.
How to Make the Most of it
Breathe in, breathe out. You made it. Waking up underneath behemoth, moss-covered, primordial-looking trees and a tangle of lacy moss is what makes it all worthwhile. And you’ve got two whole diems to carpe!
Access to the Olympic National Park is second-to-none from Staircase Campground and it just so happens that some of our favorite biking trails are just down the road. The Lower South Fork Skokomish Trail #873 is bar-none one of the best trails around.
If a two-wheeled ride is not your pick of weekend poisons, Mt. Ellinor is a short drive away. An intrepid 6 miles of trail give way to breathtaking 360 degree summit views. And, as one of the more notable peaks in the area, bagging this peak will earn some serious bragging rights.
There is a wealth of adventure waiting around every twist of trail in Hood Canal. For more ideas, check out our extensive To-Do list.
How to Celebrate in Shelton, Washington
During a weekend away, we think just about anything is cheers-worthy. The good news? There’s no lack of handcrafted libations in Hood Canal. If you’re a gin or whiskey drinker, The Hardware Distillery crafts some of the best spirits in the Northwest. Their tasting room is open from 11am to 6pm Friday through Sunday.
If you find yourself drawn to a glass of wine made with locally sourced grapes as an after-adventure drink, Walter Dacon Wines in Shelton makes some of the best wine in the area and is dedicated to Rhone and Mediterranean styles. Their tasting room is open Wednesday through Sunday from noon until 6pm.
As weekend warriors ourselves, we revere those who rise early on Saturday and Sunday to take advantage of the precious weekend freedom. We’d love to see what you get into in our neck of the woods; tag your photos on social media with #wildsideWA, and be sure to find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest for more.