Tamanowas Rock

On Father's Day this year, my son and I set out to find Tamanowas Rock. There is not a lot of information online about Tamanowas Rock, but according to Wikipedia: "Tamanowas Rock (also spelled Tamanous), also called Chimacum Rock, is a 150-foot (46 m):169 high rock with caves and crevices that lies in a forest adjacent to Anderson Lake State Park, near Port Townsend, Washington. It is a sacred site to the Coast Salish peoples of the Pacific Northwest and a pilgrimage site. The rock was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015."

To find the Tamanowas Trailhead. Driving towards Port Townsend, turn left off of Hwy 19 onto Anderson Lake Road. In just over half a mile, turn right into a small parking area. There is a sign for the site and the trail starts there. It's not too far of a walk to the rock at just over 3/10ths of a mile. The rock sits next to a cliff. If you find yourself going steeply uphill on the trail next to the cliff, you probably missed the side trail to the right that goes to the rock. If you do go the wrong way, its not a big deal because the views from the top of the cliff overlooking Chimicum and the High School are pretty nice too. We could see Rainier and many of the Cascades in the distance. Go far enough on the cliff trail and you will see the top of the rock from an overlook. There were a couple of lesser trails branching off from the top of the cliff heading east that I believe connect to the Anderson Lake trail system, but we didn't have time to investigate those.

Trailhead
Viewpoint of Chimicum from the ridgetop.
Big crack in the earth on the ridgetop. It looked as though a big chunk of the ridge was starting to separate away, much as Tamanowas rock did.
Trail coming back down from the ridge.
Tamanowas Rock
Tamanowas Rock
Tamanowas Rock
Tamanowas Rock
2016-06-19 Tamanowas Rock-23
Vertical panorama of Tamanowas Rock
Tamanowas Rock

 

2 thoughts on “Tamanowas Rock

  • August 16, 2024 at 2:26 pm
    Permalink

    Thanks for this great write up, I would have totally missed Tamanowas Rock if I didn’t follow your instructions. FYI, if you keep going up the main trail instead of turning right, you will eventually reach Peregrine Rock and connect with the Chinook trail and Anderson Lake. It was a gorgeous day for a hike, tranquil and quiet.

    Reply
    • August 16, 2024 at 3:23 pm
      Permalink

      Glad the write up was helpful to someone. That’s cool that you took the main trail and found the other rock. I need to get back out that way some time.

      Reply

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