Camp Hahobas

The only true fjord in the lower 48 states, Hood Canal is roughly 40 miles as the crow flies from downtown Seattle, Washington. Situated between Puget Sound and the gorgeous Olympic Mountains, the area draws visitors from all over the world. Yet access to its vast forests and clear waters had been limited until 2019, when Trust for Public Land stepped in to help.

Thanks to a collaboration between TPL, the Boy Scouts of America, and local and national partners, a unique 430-acre landscape along the southern end of the Hood Canal shoreline is now accessible to the public for generations to come.

After TPL helped acquire Camp Hahobas, a former Boy Scout property, part of the land was transferred to the Great Peninsula Conservancy, a nonprofit group that oversees Hahobas Shoreline Preserve. The state manages the rest of the property as a working forest, with revenues supporting public schools.

A key ecological reason for protecting the shoreline from development was preservation of the natural edge, which supports eelgrass, Chinook salmon, and—further along the food chain—orca whales. Now, visitors can explore the shoreline and take in the area’s iconic views, looking south into the Great Bend and west into the heart of Olympic National Park.