Improvements are planned on the Haley property on the shores of Case Inlet, a 178-acre undeveloped parcel managed by a state park. Washington State Parks has received a grant to build a small parking lot, picnic area and restroom facility at the trailhead on Jackson Lake Road NW. The agency will also improve the trail that runs from the road to 1,980 feet of shoreline.
Known primarily to locals, the Haley property is located south of Dutcher Cove. Without a boat, it is currently only accessible via a difficult-to-see trail near the public fishing access to Jackson Lake. The trail passes through a mosaic of upland forests before dropping into a lush ravine. Intrepid hikers are rewarded when it ends at a tidal estuary surrounded by forest. Eventually, the trail reaches a driftwood-covered beach with extensive mudflats.
The property’s name, which is a placeholder, honors the family that owned it and recreated it in cabins along the shore until it was donated to Washington State Parks in the early 1980s. JC Haley, a Tacoma businessman, co-founded Brown & Haley, the Tacoma candy company behind Almond Roca, in 1914.
State Parks has not had the budget to develop the Haley property. The property is considered state park property, not a designated state park – so its name is an unofficial placeholder.
The grant was awarded through a competitive process by the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office and is tied to a land acquisition that took place in 2022 and expanded the park site by four parcels near Jackson Lake Road.
The 21-space parking lot is located just off Jackson Lake Road and has a parking sign and steel gate. The picnic area and concrete restroom, as well as an information kiosk, are located adjacent to the parking lot.
Improvements to the trail will be limited to the upper half and include widening to state park standards and improving the walking surface, with minor detours in some places. A viewing pavilion is planned where the trail drops into a ravine.
Beyond the viewpoint, the path remain unchanged, with the exception of the addition of a timber staircase in a particularly steep section and a raised wooden walkway over a marshy corner of the estuary.
According to Sarah Fronk, communications manager for the state parks, construction is expected to be completed in 2025.
An environmental impact assessment is currently being conducted, as well as tribal work and archaeological investigations in the parking lot area.
“Over a million people live less than an hour’s drive from the park,” Fronk said. “It’s an opportunity to expand access to nature for a growing population, and we hope the park will help enrich the local community with more opportunities to experience outdoor recreation without having to travel long distances.”
She added, “It will serve as the main trail system for the state parks on the Key Peninsula.”
Dutcher Cove resident Jim Bellamy says the Haley estate beach offers the best swimming on the Key Peninsula. “I remember Haley Cove in the ’60s when I was in high school,” he said. The Haley family had simple cabins on the shore back then, and he would visit a friend there to water ski and swim. “The salt water was our playground.”
He sees pontoon boats and grills using the beach today and believes one of the more realistic options for state parks to carefully develop the park would be to put up a few mooring buoys for boaters, like at McMicken Island Marine State Park across the bay. He was glad to hear that state parks will not build a road to the beach.
“You have to be realistic,” he said, adding that the steep slopes and wetlands would likely make it impossible to develop the higher part of the beach. He worries that without car access, state parks will have difficulty maintaining the trail and keeping it clear of trash, but says it’s important to have the trail so anyone without a boat can enjoy the beach.
Fronk said State Parks has prepared a classification and management plan for the Haley property. The CAMP process, which sets the development plan for a property and identifies adjacent properties that can be acquired when they become available, included numerous opportunities for public involvement.
“The response to development at Haley has been positive, provided that Parks strives to minimize impacts on the forest,” she said. “Neighbors specifically requested that the Haley property be developed only in areas where recent logging has occurred and that the park be kept relatively small. The development plan meets those requirements.”
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