Hood Canal
What is it and why visit?
Hood Canal is a long, narrow, glacially carved fjord located where the Puget Lowland meets the Olympic Mountains in western Washington. It’s a beautiful area, rich in great seafood and recreational opportunities, with abundant wild marine life. Shellfish farming provides oysters ready to eat from the local farmers or you can find your own on public beaches that allow harvesting. The waters are also known for scuba diving, boating, kayaking, fishing, crabbing, and shrimping. Hiking opportunities in the eastern foothills of the Olympic Mountains provide great panoramic views of the canal and the Puget Lowland. Hiking or driving up Mount Walker, near Quilcene, or hiking near Lake Cushman or up the Hamma Hamma River, provides stunning views and communion with nature in this tranquil part of Washington.
Be aware that this area is part of a tsunami hazard zone. Go here to learn more about tsunami hazards in Washington.
Geologic story
Glacial ice about 3,000 to 1,500 feet thick carved out Hood Canal during the most recent glaciations. Today, sediments are actively filling the canal, shed by alpine rivers and glaciers on the Olympic Mountains. It is estimated that 469 thousand tons of sediment are delivered by the rivers of the Olympics per year. This is equivalent to about 26,407 dump truck loads of sediment! This modern sediment is minor when compared to the vast alpine glacial sediment that came from the alpine glaciers when they were larger and more active.
While the Puget Lowland is largely covered by
Since the 1930s, studies have reported seasonally low levels of dissolved oxygen in the Hood Canal, producing “dead zones” for fish populations. In the 1990s, this condition seemed to be worsening and scientists wondered whether humans were the culprit. Instead, they found that episodically occurring natural phenomena can produce low dissolved oxygen levels in Hood Canal. First, the input of nitrogen-rich marine waters blocks photosynthesis and oxygen production by phytoplankton. Then, river inputs dry up, thinning the freshwater layer. Lastly, strong winds push the freshwater cap away, allowing lower-oxygenated deeper waters to rise to the surface. In a matter of hours, the surface waters of Hood Canal drop drastically in dissolved oxygen, suffocating the fish that reside there. Research found this has been ongoing for some time, and sediment samples revealed it was even worse before the 1900s.
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Fun Fact
Don’t get your boat stuck when the tide goes out. Abundant sand was deposited in the Hood Canal back when glaciers were coming and going, before Hood Canal was a fjord. This sand is found primarily north of the Seattle Fault, near Holly, and makes for shallow bays and inlets.
What to see and do
Access passes you may need:
For state parks and state forests a Discover Pass is required. For Olympic National Forest trailheads a Northwest Forest Pass or America the Beautiful Pass is needed.
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Please remember that while visiting these timeless places to only take photos and leave footprints. For many public lands, including Washington State Parks, you will find that State Law (RCW 79A.05.165) prevents you from taking anything from the property unless you have a valid scientific research permit. We need to preserve our public lands for generations yet to come and take care to keep our Parks and public lands from being destroyed bit by bit. Please leave all items in the Parks and follow Park specific rules that help protect our treasured places from the very small to the very large, from temporal to forever. Thank you and enjoy!
Getting There
Hood Canal can be accessed from many different directions. U.S. Highway 101 parallels it on the west side and State Route 3 on the Kitsap Peninsula can be used to access the eastern side of Hood Canal via backroads or the floating bridge on the north and Belfair on the south.
Nearby Amenities
Photo gallery
Bibliography
Cope, Ben; Roberts, Mindy, 2013, Review and synthesis of available information to estimate human impacts to dissolved oxygen in Hood Canal: U. S. Environmental Protection Agency Publication No. 910-R-13-002 and Washington State Department of Ecology Publication No. 13-03-016, 109 p. [https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/publications/documents/1303016.pdf]
Czuba, J. A.; Magirl, C. S.; Czuba, C. R.; Grossman, E. E.; Curran, C. A.; Gendaszek, A. S.; Dinicola, R. S., 2011, Sediment Load from Major Rivers into Puget Sound and its Adjacent Waters: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2011-3083. [https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2011/3083/]
Miller, M. B.; Cowan, D. S., 2017, Roadside Geology of Washington, second edition: Mountain Press Publishing Company, 378 p.
Newton, J.; Bassin, C.; Devol, A.; Richey, J.; Kawase, M.; Warner, M., 2011, Overview and results synthesis. In Hood Canal Dissolved Oxygen Program integrated assessment and modeling report: University of Washington, 31 p. [https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6648/a004109940877351c0b248d1dfd23d5fcc63.pdf]
Newton, Jan, Science primer—Low dissolved oxygen in Hood Canal [webpage]: Hood Canal Dissolved Oxygen Program. [accessed Apr. 17, 2020 at http://www.hoodcanal.washington.edu/aboutHC/scienceprimer.jsp?perPage=1&startIndex=0&View=&keyword=EDUPPT]
Polenz, Michael.; Contreras, T. A.; Czajkowski, J. L.; Legorreta Paulin, Gabriel; Miller, B. A.; Martin, M. E.; Walsh, T. J.; Logan, R. L.; Carson, R. J.; Johnson, C. N.; Skov, R. H.; Mahan, S. A.; Cohan, C. R., 2010, Supplement to geologic maps of the Lilliwaup, Skokomish Valley, and Union 7.5-minute quadrangles, Mason County, Washington--Geologic setting and development around the Great Bend of Hood Canal: Washington Division of Geology and Earth Resources Open File Report 2010-5, 27 p. [http://www.dnr.wa.gov/Publications/ger_ms2013-02_geol_map_seabeck-poulsbo_24k.zip]
Polenz, Michael; Petro, G. T.; Contreras, T. A.; Stone, K. A.; Legorreta Paulin, Gabriel; Cakir, Ray, 2013, Geologic map of the Seabeck and Poulsbo 7.5-minute quadrangles, Kitsap and Jefferson Counties, Washington: Washington Division of Geology and Earth Resources Map Series 2013-02, 1 sheet, scale 1:24,000, with 39 p. text. [http://www.dnr.wa.gov/Publications/ger_ms2013-02_geol_map_seabeck-poulsbo_24k.zip]