Sid Knutson Puget Sound to Hood Canal Trail

Dogs Leashed

Features Birding · Lake

Parking at the Puget Sound end of the trail is available at Norwegian Point County Park in "downtown" Hansville. A sani-can is available there, and a store and cafe are adjacent to the park. In the gazebo at the park is a map and photos of the trail, so start there. The beginning of the trail is west along Twin Spits Road. Watch for a Hansville Greenway sign on the south side of the road where the trail proper starts into a boardwalk through an alder wetland.

Most of the trail is through Hansville Greenway property which is owned by Kitsap County Parks. Some of the trail at the south end is on a 20 foot wide trail easement across private property, so please stay on the trail. The south end of the trail follows along Hood Canal Drive and to a county road end at Hood Canal. There is a small parking where the trail meets Hood Canal where a couple of cars can be staged for a one-way hike. The tidelands on both sides of the 45 foot wide road end on Hood Canal are privately owned.

Sid Knutson Puget Sound to Hood Canal Trail – 4 miles one way.

This is the premier hike through the Hansville Greenway. It is a key element of Sid Knutson's original vision for the Greenway. While it can be accomplished as an eight mile round trip, staging a vehicle at one end allows for a much more leisurely four mile hike. Blue signs on the trail numbered signposts mark the trail. Starting at Norwegian Point County Park , following are the highlights of the trail:

Alder Wetland Platform, Mile 0.5
Bear Meadow Vista trail, Mile 0.9 Signpost #8
Trail to Otter Meadow & Buck Lake Park (Restroom),Mile 1.5 Signpost #3
The trail through the meadow rejoins the Sid Knutson Trail at Signpost #4
Trail to Quiet Place & Upper Hawk's Pond, Mile 1.8 Signpost #5
Trail to Ponderosa Blvd road end in Shore Woods, Mile 2.2 Signpost #10
Trail to Lower Hawk's Pond View Platform, Mile 2.3 Signpost #13
Hawk's Hole Creek source, Mile 2.7 Signpost #14,
Trail to Spruce Drive in Shore Woods, Mile 2.9 Signpost #15,
Hawk's Hole Creek ravine, Mile 3.2
Hood Canal Drive, 3-car parking lot, Mile 4.0
Hood Canal Place road end beach, private beaches both sides, Mile 4.3

The trails are primarily unsurfaced and single lane. Portions are on old logging roads and logging railroad grades. Tree roots and rocks protrude above the surface in places. Most trails are open to pedestrian, mountain bike, and horses. However, horses are prohibited in some areas where the trail approaches ponds, lakes, or streams, or where the ground is too soft. The section of trail from Twin Spits Road, through the Alder Wetland is built to be wheel chair accessible, so is surfaced appropriately and has a section of boardwalk.

Trails within the Hansville Greenway are intended for passive recreation, including wildlife observation and walking, or riding. The Greenway is first, and foremost, a nature preserve and wildlife sanctuary. These off-road trails also serve to connect many of the communities in the Hansville area, but are not suitable for bikes other than mountain bikes.

The trail passes through typical twice logged Puget Sound Lowland forest and includes two beaver ponds and a small stream that empties into Hood Canal. Trail spurs reach the south shore of Buck Lake and a raised view platform at the north end of Lower Hawk's Pond. Deer, coyotes, and an occasional black bear are seen in this area. Seventy-seven species of birds have been recorded in the Hansville Greenway. The Lower Hawk's Pond platform is the best place to see birds.

One section of the trail is known for an abundance of blooming trillium in April. Other flowering plants include red flowering current, spirea, twin flower, candy flower, and other flowering ground cover plants. Trees include Douglas fir, hemlock, western red cedar, red alder, and big leaf maple.