A lovely sandy beach along Jamestown Road looking out over the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Though parking is virtually nonexistant, unless you’re extremely lucky, take the drive from end to end of the road. And don’t be ashamed to pull off to the side to snap some pictures. I do!
Looking north, you can see the New Dungeness Lighthouse and watch frieghters as they navigate through the Strait. New does not refer to the age of the lighthouse – it’s been in continuous operation since 1857 and is the second oldest lighthouse in the State, but rather the area was known as New Dungeness, and later simply Dungeness.
On the southern end of Jamestown Road, behind this gate, is the grave of Lord James Balch, for whom the Jamestown S’Klallam are named.
Head north on Jamestown Road, and you’ll run into that happy clam design on the Jamestown Crab Shack, built by tribal elder Harris “Brick” Johnson. He hosted clam bakes to raise funds for totem poles that he carved and then donated to Pioneer Park in Sequim, and Peninsula College in Port Angeles, amongst others. You’ll see that happy clam in several spots, including The Cedars At Dungeness Gold Club.
Terry Johnson, nephew to Brick Johnson tells me
The building was used by Uncle Brick for cooking crab that he went out and caught in the Strait. The sides opened up — it’s where they served the food. There were two rock pits on the east side for steaming clams and oysters and on the west side there was a stage with a sign where they had bands play.
The crab shack is featured on the back of the 7 Cedars booklet that I picked up at the hotel gift shop.
Links of Interest:
- Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe – official website
- New Dungeness Lighthouse
Location:
Lord James Balch Grave, Graysmarsh Cemetery, Sequim, WA
Do you have to be a member of the tribe to access the beach? Or put another way, is there a public access to this beach?
The beach is open to non-tribal members, but much of it is private property, so please respect the signs designating those areas as such.