There are so many little port towns around the Olympic Peninsula. We visited Port Townsend earlier in the summer and had a great time. This time we were in the area to ride part of the Discovery Trail and around Fort Worden.
The Larry Scott section of Discovery Trail from Milo-Curry Trailhead into downtown Port Townsend is largely dirt, though the last part along the actual port is paved. It’s a wide path with plenty of room for passing. The trail passes through the outskirts of town, past houses and farms, through a tunnel, and around the mill.
The mill section is where it turns to pavement. A section of abandoned railway grade was deeded to the City in 1997 by the Port Townsend Paper Company. Today Port Townsend Paper Corp is the largest private employer in Jefferson County and the largest recycler on the Olympic Peninsula, recycling one-third of all the cardboard in Washington State.
The strip of waterfront along the railroad grade was converted to a trail with a terminus at the Port of Port Townsend Boat Haven. We rode through the boatyard and into town. Via a series of backroads, we ventured to Fort Worden and rode up Artillery Hill on paved paths. Many trails cross the Hill, connecting six gun batteries, 2 mortar batteries, and many other buildings and many sites from the years that Fort Worden was an active fort. All of the gun batteries are open to the public (bring a flashlight!),
Next, we rode over to the Chinese Gardens. Port Townsend’s first Chinese immigrant arrived in 1870 and by 1889 its Chinatown spanned two blocks of downtown. At the Chinese Gardens just outside of town, many of these immigrants made a living raising vegetables to sell to Port Townsend’s residents. There aren’t any gardens these days, but the pond attracts all kinds of wildlife. We rode around the pond and down to North Beach to enjoy our sandwiches and the water before heading back to the start.
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