Toilets, fires and other things you shouldn’t bury in the sand this Fourth of July
Jun 25, 2024, 5:57 AM
A beach fire on the Long Beach peninsula. (Photo courtesy of Chris Sullivan, KIRO Newsradio)
(Photo courtesy of Chris Sullivan, KIRO Newsradio)
The Washington Coast is going to be a popular spot next week as people head out for the Fourth of July holiday.
It’s only been a few weeks since I went over the do’s and don’ts of beach driving. The message still isn’t getting out there enough. I watched in horror as a truck tried to tow a large trailer camper through the sand on the Seaview approach Sunday. It didn’t go well. He was stuck for a while. People are still setting up their gear in the middle of the sand highway and going too fast.
But I wanted to go over a few other details to make sure you’re safe on your visit.
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Fires are allowed on the Long Beach Peninsula, but they need to be a safe distance from the grassy sand dunes.
“One hundred feet from the dunes,” Washington State Park (WSP) Ranger David Linthakhan said during a recent trip to the peninsula. “I would just go right off of the green of the vegetation. One hundred feet from the vegetation is good.”
Most fires will burn themselves out, but it’s best to spread them apart before you leave. Do not bury them.
“As long as it’s far enough away from the dunes and you walk away from it, it’ll burn out,” Ranger Linthakhan said. “What people actually do, that is more problematic, is they’ll cover it and that sand will insulate that fire. Then you’ll have a little kid running around and stepping on a really hot patch of sand and burning their feet. So it’s actually better if you just spread it out.”
Speaking of burying things. A lot of people set up huge compounds on the sand over the Fourth of July holiday. They get there really early, and they stay late because overnight camping isn’t allowed on the beach.
Visitors that motivated and prepared usually come with their own versions of toilets. They dig a hole in the ground and put up some sort of screening.
“There’s no way that I can stop people from using the bathroom on the beach,” Ranger Linthakhan said. “We’re going to put up porta-potties and stuff like that, but people are going to do it. If you are doing that, don’t cover it up with sand. It makes it invisible and the volunteers on July 5 are going to come by and step in it, and it’s not very pleasant.”
Please put a bucket under your makeshift toilet and leave with it. Pack in. Pack out. And that means everything.
The Long Peninsula has a reputation for getting a little nutty over the Fourth of July. We were there in 2015 when nearly 100,000 people showed up. It was the perfect storm of July 4 falling on a Saturday and really hot weather in Portland and Seattle.
The visitors left the beach in rough shape.
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That weekend is why fireworks are illegal inside the Long Beach city limits. You are not able to buy or shoot off any fireworks inside that area.
They are still legal on other parts of the beach.
Ranger Linthakhan said visitors should plan on where to go, depending on their appetite for fireworks.
“If you’re here with your family and your goal is to just have a nice calm time, it’s going to be really difficult if you’re near the Bolstad Beach approach or Cranberry Road,” Linthakhan said. “Maybe you want you and your family to just be in this closure area.”
Ocean Shores has a similar ban in its city limits, but fireworks are allowed on a certain portion of the beach.
Be sure to check the local laws and rules if you plan to buy and set off fireworks on the coast.
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