Editor’s note: Originally published November 3, 2017. Updated July 22, 2021.

Though Pigeon Creek appears on maps, it's something of a locals-only secret spot.

The name's a misnomer on both accounts; mostly it's beach and I've never seen a pigeon there. 

It's my favorite place in the city any time of the year.

You have to know where to look for the trailhead.

You can park or bike to Terminal Avenue, near the Navy base. From there you travel a mile south on a path.

The route takes you between train tracks on the east and the naval station on the west.

The end of the path opens up on a strip of beach and tidal flats. 

You're here.

Sit on driftwood. Beach comb.

Herons. Seagulls. Crabs.

The barking of young seal pups. The clanking of passing trains.

I remember summer swims in green water with seaweed. I've seen bald eagles soaring above the bluffs.

My most recent visit was on a drizzly November day. 

Afterward I warmed up with a latte from Silver Cup Coffee (permanently closed). 

A beautiful rainy morning in the waterfront city of Everett, Washington. I like life in this place.

Good things happen here.

PIGEON CREEK
2890 Terminal AvE
EVERETT, WA 98201

Richard Porter is a writer for Live in Everett.