On 5 Jul 00, Robert Sundstrom wrote:

> No doubt someone has posted directions to Kennedy Creek Estuary at
> some
> point, but I seem to have missed them. If you have a minute, can you
> give me basic directions to the area?

Kennedy Creek Estuary is located in Mason County on US Highway 101
between Shelton and Olympia, more specifically at the crossing of US
101 and Old Olympic Highway right at milepost 356.

Driving south on US 101, begin paying attention when you pass over SR
108  from here's only 2.5 miles to Old Olympic Highway where you'll
want to turn left.

>From I5, in Olympia head west on US 101 for approximately 5.3 miles
to where SR 8 continues west to Aberdeen, and US 101 veers off to
Shelton and Port Angeles. Begin paying attention when you pass the
Mason County line  from here its 0.7 mile to the Kennedy Creek
Bridge and then just another 0.2 mile to Old Olympic Highway crossing
where you'll want to turn right.

Once off US 101 onto Old Olympic Highway, make a really quick right
into a gravel parking area that's separated from US 101 only by one
of those hefty metal rail crash barriers. Don't follow Old Olympic
Highway as it curves left.

>From here you have a commanding view east of most of Kennedy Creek
Estuary. Beyond KCE lies a high salt marsh peninsula, and beyond that
is the Schneider Creek Estuary. To the northeast is Oyster Bay.

Map aficionados will want to refer to Delorme page 61: D8, or the
real thing, the USGS Summit Lake 7.5' quad. There?s an aerial oblique
photo on the Department of Ecology web site at
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/apps/shorephotos/scripts/bigphoto.asp?id=MAS0003
which provides a view north with Kennedy Creek Estuary in the upper
1/3 of the photo and Schneider Creek Estuary in the lower 2/3.

****************
Douglas Canning
Olympia, Washington
dcanning at igc.org
****************