Wetlands Trail to Milwaukee in Samoa Dunes

Samoa Dunes State Recreation Area

Click for map.

I decided I would go and visit Humboldt Bay's first lighthouse. This one was set on the North Spit and was soon deemed too low, which prompted the building of a replacement up on Table Bluff. I aimed at it once before and didn't quite make it. Then I wanted to meander over to the wreck of the Milwaukee at low tide. That was only expected to be -0.4 feet and it really needs to be -2 feet (which happens in the summer) to see everything above the sand. I figured it sticks up a bit and I would see something. It isn't exactly the hills I need, but there's some sand dunes. You get to go all over them. Be aware, you are sharing them with OHVs, but it is pretty common for people to walk them as well. I followed the signs for the staging area on Bunker Road and found plenty of parking, picnicking, and why it's called Bunker Road. On the south side of the parking area is a sign marking the Samoa Dunes Wetland Trail. It follows a small loop in an island reserved away from the OHVs and the remains of the lighthouse are found along it. That is where I started.

sign at the trailhead showing the lighthouse, plants and animal prints — The sign at the trailhead has a picture of the old lighthouse after it needed bracing to stand. The only indication of where to look for it is the arrow on the rough map at the top and a generic antiquities sign at the location. The buildings behind on the left are the current Coast Guard presence. This part of the spit was all Coast Guard reservation decades ago.

The Wetland Trail can be wet, sometimes even in places where there is no boardwalk. It was completely dry as I went around it. At the split for the loop, one side is marked trail and I followed along left obediently. It got dim in places, but never totally obscured.

bricks scattered in sand — The initial indication of the lighthouse are just scattered bricks in a bit of barren sand.

squared off green things — But look west of that and the clump of invasive vegetation typical of old home sites appears squared off. Beneath are more bricks and cement of the old foundation.

fluffy bit of plant like a caterpillar — Even if the water of the wetlands isn't showing, the willows provide clues.

Coast Guard buildings — The current Coast Guard reservation and the distant snowy mountains.

After the Wetland Trail, I crossed the parking lot to a much smaller loop where paving and boardwalk climb past interpretive signs to the top of one of the many old ammunition bunkers from WWII that dot the area. That's why it's called Bunker Road.

amunition bunkers — A few of the old ammunition bunkers.

bikes on the sand — More of the bunkers, and the people playing on their dirt bikes, from the top of another bunker.

more sand dunes and the fog horn — Enjoy the vast views from the high point of the hike. You can see the fog horn on the north jetty.

concrete doors with a very big lock — The bunker with the boardwalk up to the top.

Those loops finished, it was time to wander over to the Milwaukee. I headed out on the main path to the beach and turned right. I figured it was about 2 miles north along the beach.

beach and dunes — A lot of beach already available, but there's more to uncover as the tide continues out.

very wide beach and wide wetted sand — The beach can get very vast.

island of sand with a salty stream between — The sand is not a constant slope downward and the low tide sometimes shows structures. The water on the far side of the sideways flow is about to become sand island.

little birds on the wet sand — The sanderlings are always out.

Not all of the beach is a wide expanse at low tide. The waves seem to be working on some areas more than others and eating in toward the roads and other infrastructure. The changes can be quite abrupt.

lots of waves — The beach going from narrow to wide again makes an interesting vantage point.

mussels attached to a rope on the sand — That object on the beach in the picture above got my attention, so I went to see it closer. It is a bit of rope incrusted with mussels.

I thought I'd gotten to the wreck, but couldn't see anything. I popped up to the well used parking area above and couldn't find the monument. I still needed to go 3/4 of a mile to find it, but it was visible once I did.

fin of metal sticking out of the waves — A piece of the Milwaukee sticking out of the waves.

The USS Cruiser Milwaukee was trying to get a beached H-3 submarine back out to sea when it fumbled and went aground itself on January 13, 1917. Except for getting stripped of useful metals in WWII, there it stayed. The submarine got rolled and skidded on logs over the spit and launched out into the bay, an offer that was already on the table prior to the accident, but deemed unrealistic. Now it is reportedly sinking lower into the sand.

more bits of metal sticking out plus some pier pilons — More of the boat can be seen still. The pilons are probably the remains of a pier constructed to salvage the guns and equipment shortly after.

I walked up to see the monument by the road. It isn't much. No one actually died in this debacle, so it is only to the ship.

big, crude rock and concrete sign — The memorial to the USS Milwaukee, run aground and sinking into the sand below.

bits of metal and wood in the surf — Taking in the wreck of the USS Milwaukee from up on the sand dunes.

I wasn't sure when exactly low tide was for that exact spot, but it seemed like the water had come up a little since I started watching the waves wash over the metal fins that remain. I headed back, taking in some of the other wrecks on the beach.

front end of car buried in sand — The front end of a car wreck which may or may not be attached to a buried back end.

fiberglass and metal pipe — Old pipe works. Both fiberglass and metal have failed on it, so it is quite the wreck.

I had started out my return in the dunes, but dropped back to the beach because it is such a narrow section beside the road. Once I got into wider portions of dunes, I tried them again. It was nice little ups and downs, but the loose sand where people drive was a lot of work to walk in, especially when it came to those steeper ups.

rather flat areas of the dunes — Some of the easier places to walk the dunes.

airport tower and pavement — The airport from the end of the drag strip. Samoa is a happening place.

expanse of dune grass — It just stretches out.

Once I had enough of the work of trudging through dry, soft sand, I dropped back to the beach and the wet sand. I may have been too quick to leave. The tide was much lower than when I had passed the first time. I could track exactly where I took photographs of the wave powered stream flowing across the sand.

structures of sand usually under the surf — The little streams running across the wave motion are actually really cool once the tide is low enough to actually leave an island beside them.

wandering water — More of the meanders of the water in the tide revealed structures of sand.

There were about five vehicles out on the beach when I got back by the bunkers and had to regain the dry sand. I guess that's just a sensible thing to do of an evening. The lot was rather empty in contrast.

Note: I've linked to a lot of photographs of the Milwaukee and the H-3 submarine, but there are many more to be seen. I found them by searching the Naval History and Heritage Command site for "Milwaukee Samoa" for the cruiser and "H-3 submarine Samoa" for the submarine. I got there from an North Coast Journal article but the links are broken. If mine also fail or you just want to see more, now you know the way.

©2021 Valerie Norton
Written 31 Mar 2021

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