Here are the best late summer beaches for kids on the Kitsap Peninsula

Here are the best late summer beaches for kids on the Kitsap Peninsula

Late summer in the Pacific Northwest might be the best time of year.

Growing up on Camano Island, with a return to school on the horizon, I remember squeezing every last bit out of my late summer days as possible, from mud-flat clam digging to setting crab pots with my dad and fishing for dogfish and flounder from our aluminum dinghy on Livingston Bay.

In August, Northwest days are at their warmest and so are our waters. Water temps famously never get much higher than the upper 50s on the Sound but are much warmer closer to shore when the waters are shallow and allow for a bit of solar heating.

August swimming at the right beaches can be tolerable if not downright comfortable.

Plus, in the late summer, some families have headed back to school, so beach towns, being a bit less crowded, return to their unhurried, laid-back nature.

Yes, I'll take late summer in the Pacific Northwest over any other time of year. What are the best late summer beaches for kids around the South Sound?

Earlier this month, I put together a list of my favorite family beaches on the Key Peninsula, so as we edge closer to the end of summer, it's time to conquer the Kitsap Peninsula.

If your kiddos haven't returned to school, and they enjoy hiking, boat rides, getting muddy and are fine with a picnic by the sea, these parks are for you.

Scenic Beach State Park

Location: 9565 Scenic Beach Road NW, Seabeck

Pass: Discover Pass

Great for: Picnics by the shore

Note: No charcoal or wood fires allowed

The Kitsap Peninsula, which looks like a cockatoo and includes portions of Pierce and Kitsap counties, has some of the best late-summer beaches in the South Sound. A number of them sit along Hood Canal, like Scenic Beach State Park, which sits at the top of this list.

Scenic Beach State Park faces west, directly toward the toothy outline of the Olympic Mountains. On good days, they're there, directly across Hood Canal, asking for family photos that might be mistaken for Switzerland.

The beach itself is rocky but fun. Many skipping stones can be found, as well as shallow shores for splashing and wading. One fun game to be had on this (or any) beach is to find a piece of driftwood and lie stones out on it. Let it set sail into the waters, then bean it with rocks from the shore until all the stones have fallen off; whoever knocks the most off wins.

Another fun game is volleyball, and there's a court there! Also picnic tables for eating in a forest of Douglas firs. Round it all out with the historic Emel House for any wedding, anniversary or reunion events, hiking trails, and year-round camping options, and you've got a heck of a destination just north of Pierce County waiting for your late-summer Pacific Northwest weekend.

Illahee State Park

Location: 3540 NE Sylvan Way, Bremerton

Pass: Discover Pass

Great for: Paddling around the bay

Note: The pier will be closed from Aug. 31 to Sept. 3

This 75-acre park with a pier is a North Bremerton gem. On the east side of the Kitsap Peninsula, facing Bainbridge Island, sits Illahee State Park. When I asked my father, who grew up in East Bremerton, about Ilahee, he remembered playing on its high-banked sandy shores.

If you're entering by car, you'll switchback on a steep road through old-growth, ancient Pacific yew trees (one recently fell that was 400 years old). If you're approaching by water, there's a dock, five moorage buoys and a boat launch.

However you get there, look to slow down at Illahee. Illahee is a word from Chinuk Wawa meaning "earth," "land" or "homeland."

Hike nature trails through Ilahee's old-growth forest or hop into the calm waters of Port Orchard Bay for some scuba diving or fishing.

How about a kayak or sail? As my father mentioned, you can bring your sandcastle-building molds here, as sections with actual sand (as opposed to just rock) can be found at Ilahee. There's also a field to play ball here if you can find it.

Another section that kids and history buffs alike might enjoy is the veteran's war memorial, complete with two historic 51-caliber naval guns from the World War I-era battleship USS West Virginia.

Come for the boating, digging and splashing, and stay for the trees.

Manchester State Park

Location: 7767 E. Hilldale Road, Port Orchard

Pass: Discover Pass

Great for: The Cascadia Marine Trail

Note: No charcoal or wood fires allowed

Just across Rich Passage from Bainbridge Island and north of the community of Manchester, sits Manchester State Park. If you haven't been there, you've likely seen it on the shores to your east if you've ever taken the ferry from Seattle to Bremerton.

Manchester is best known for its old torpedo warehouse, which has been converted into a picnic spot popular for weddings and photo shoots.

This park offers over 3,400 feet of sandy and rocky coastline for late summer swimming, a manicured day use area, two miles of forested (and ferned) hiking trails, kayaking and camping ... paddle board camping in particular. Manchester is part of the Cascadia Marine Trail, which offers kayak-in campsites ready for you to arrive by water.

Back your RV into a campsite and park under western hemlock, red cedar and Douglas fir trees, then let your kids loose on the world.

Originally called Middle Point, a satellite military base to Fort Ward on Bainbridge Island, Manchester State Park houses buildings from its war-weary past.

The site was decommissioned as a base in 1951 and officially opened to the public as a state park in 1981.

If you make a weekend of stringing all three of these Kitsap Peninsula parks together, you'll have yourself a great late summer family trip.