Hike of the Week: Cape Flattery

Cape Flattery's dramatic coastline is impressive in any season

Cape Flattery

Daylight savings on the summer solstice

by Craig Romano
photo by Craig Romano
produced by Michael Fagin
June 24, 2005

Quick Facts
Location: Makah Indian Reservation
Land Agency: Makah Nation
Roundtrip: 1.5 miles
Cumulative Elevation gain: 200 feet
Access: From Port Angeles head 5 miles west on US 101 to SR 112. Proceed west on SR 112 for 65 miles to Neah Bay on the Makah Indian Reservation. Pass the Tribal Center and in 1.5 miles turn left on Cape Flattery Road. In 2.5 miles come to a junction; bear right. Continue for another four miles to trailhead located on your left.
Notes: Makah Recreation Pass required ($7.00, available at Washburn’s General Store in Neah Bay).
Green Trails Map: Cape Flattery, WA- No. 98S

Rejoice! The summer solstice is here, and that means maximum daylight for those of us who live on the northern latitudes. However, the mornings have already begun to grow shorter as the long march towards winter begins. But, it’ll still be a couple of weeks before day’s end contracts. If you love late sunsets accompanied by prolonged residual daylight, head for Cape Flattery. For here at the absolute northwest corner of Washington, is the last place in the continental United States to see the sunset. And with its location on the 48th parallel, during the summer months, Cape Flattery sees a fair amount of daylight, too.
But it’s not just spectacular sunsets that makes Cape Flattery an attractive place to hike-it’s a spectacular seascape and abundant wildlife that make this Olympic Peninsula destination so special. Thanks to the Makah Nation, the stewards of this land, a well-constructed trail leads to this remote corner of America. Through a forest of Sitka spruce the trail drops down to a series of promontories providing stunning vistas of the rugged cape. Abrupt contours of sea stacks, caves, and forbidding shear cliffs adorn the cape. It’s a hostile environment of strong currents, swift breezes, frequent storms, and brutal topography.
But nature has a way of adapting, and if you look carefully at this intimidating world where sea meets land, you’ll see life. Lots of life! Puffins and guillemots surf the turbulent waters. Murres nest in the fortress-like cliffs. Oystercatchers probe the tidal pools left behind on offshore reefs. Sea otters, once on the brink of extinction, bob in protected coves. Whales can often be spotted farther out.
Man too, has adapted to this landscape which is often draped in fog and receives over 100 inches of annual rainfall. Directly offshore is Tatoosh Island. Named for a Makah chief, this 20-acre treeless island once served as a summer fishing camp for the Makahs. The United States Coast Guard first constructed a lighthouse on the island in 1857. The current structure is automated. Now, only sea lions, seals, and scores of sea birds live on Tatoosh.
The Makahs have declared Cape Flattery a nature sanctuary; an enlightened move for this land of abundant summer light.