Lifestyle family photos at Burfoot County Park
Romantic, silly and sweet this lifestyle session has a wonderful mix of pure candid moments, storytelling detail images, classic portraits and my personal favorite, the giggle shot. Many of you don’t know I was a Cub Scout leader for years in Yelm with Cub Scout Pack 267, I am now the Cub Scout committee chair but I still love to help with the programming. Jay was my assistant Cub Scout leader for years and I got to be his sons leader for three years in a row. It’s such a joy to get to photograph families as they grow over the years but it pulls at my own mamma heart strings. I sent a teary message while I was editing theses images. The kids are gowning up so fast!
We treated the walk on the way to the beach like a mini Cub Scout hike, pointing out all the fall signs and naming all the plants and animals we knew. Burfoot Park has a bit of everything it’s actually quite deceiving once you pull in you will see a nice big play park with a big green field, skip that for now and drive down to the restrooms. Across from the restrooms is a trailhead with a secret garden feeling. The trail to the beach has a ton of photo ops from little wooden benches, rock steps, moss covered trees, and fun wooden walkways.
Once you make it to the beach access be prepared for lot’s of stops to examine neat shells and rocks. One of my favorite things to photograph bigger kids doing is playing along the logs and in the driftwood forts people make along the beach. I hope you enjoy the images and slideshow and if you want to explore #BurfootPark all the location details are at the end of the post.
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Location Details: Burfoot County Park
Where is Burfoot County Park Located?
6927 Boston Harbor Rd NE, Olympia WA 98506 Google Maps Link
How long does it take to get there?
If your driving it’s an easy 16 minute drive from Olympia’s Historic District and a 46 minute drive from downtown Tacoma.
Want to make a day of it? Nearby places of interest from Burfoot County Park
Hands On Children's Museum is a 13 minute drive from the park as well as several restaurants and local shops. My kids favorite thing to do after visiting the park is to stroll Percival Landing Boardwalk while eating scoops of Olympic Mountain Ice-cream. In the summer my kids beg to run through the Heritage Park Fountain just one more time, at least thirty times so bring some towels! Heritage Park and Heritage park fountain are 16 minutes away and offer an easy stroller friendly walk with beautiful views of the State Capitol.
Burfoot County Park is a family friendly 50-acre park featuring easy to walk forest trails and 1,100 feet of saltwater beach along Budd inlet. This park is a well upkept with lot’s of paved easy to access free parking. Pretty clean bathrooms including ADA stalls.
For parents with young kids Burfoot park has many benches and large grassy areas next to the big play ground. Many benches are near the play area and the small gardens so it’s a relaxing place to enjoy local birds and make sure your kid doesn’t suplex others while you wait. When we did this fall session we saw a family group having a birthday party at one of the three nice big covered picnic shelters you can reserve Here.
Burfoot park is very family friendly whether you have toddlers who just want to swing and climb or a budding scientists who want to learn more about all the creatures in the Salish Sea.
Unfortunately the Puget Sound is under a permanent swim advisory due to harmful bacteria Burfoot park beach is monitored from Memorial Day to Labor Day to ensure water contact is safe.
Please check Here with the department of ecology before you dip your toes in or go for a swim.
Leashed dogs welcomed at the park. The trails leading down to the beach access have a trail head marker and are located across from the restrooms.
The trail down to the beach is a picturesque walk with giant fern covered trees, wooden bridges and benches but stairs make it unsuitable for strollers. ADA access to a viewing area near the beach is available through a different rout. In the spring and summer you can check out Burfoot Parks garden and rhododendrons.
Click Here to learn more about the park.
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Free parking and entry, No Discover Pass required.
Hours: Thurston County parks are open daily from 9:00AM – dusk all year.
Parking: Several Paved lots.
Bathrooms: Bathrooms with handwashing stations and ADA stall.
Kids: Fun and easy forest walking trails with beach access, Nice newer play equipment with a separate swing set.
Dogs: Leashed dogs welcomed at the park. Remember to pack out any trash and dog scat.
Tides: Check the low tide times Here to get a glimpse of abundant sea life such as Starfish, nudibranchs and Moon Snails before you plan to head out and don’t forget to bring a towel like I do!
Tips: Stay on the trail to avoid Poison Oak. Bring boots in the rainy seasons the trails and beach can get slippery and muddy.
