The Hood Canal Tideland Owner's Guide

Ownership, regulation, history, and risk on Washington's most complex shoreline.

Owning tideland on Hood Canal is not like owning waterfront almost anywhere else in America. Washington is one of only a handful of states that ever sold its tidelands into private hands, and most of what got sold is right here. A hundred and thirty years later, that left a parcel-by-parcel patchwork: your neighbor may own to extreme low tide while you own only to the meander line, and the State, the treaty tribes and the public all hold rights on the same beach.

I wrote it for buyers and owners. It's free.

Download the Hood Canal Tideland Owner's Guide (PDF) →

A few times a year I also send Hood Canal Quarterly, a letter from the canal: what sold, what sat, and what life out here is like that season. If you'd like it, sign up below.

New subscribers also get the guide by email, so you'll have it when you need it. Already on the list? You're all set.

What's inside

  • Whose land this is. The Twana and S'Klallam peoples, the 1855 treaties, and the fishing and shellfish rights that still run with every beach.

  • How tidelands actually work in Washington. Why a deed may stop at mean low tide, extreme low tide or the meander line, and why that matters when you buy or sell.

  • The permit cascade. Septic and water, WDFW work windows, the Shoreline Management Act, and the federal layers on top.

  • What it takes to build. Bulkheads, mooring buoys, docks and beach stairs, with realistic budgets and timelines.

  • The risks to price in. Erosion, sea level rise, hypoxia and biotoxins, earthquakes, septic and contamination liability.

  • The four counties at a glance. Jefferson, Kitsap and Mason, the three Hood Canal counties, plus Clallam for Discovery Bay and the Strait, side by side.

  • What owners actually face. Maintenance budgets, insurance gaps, the disputes that recur, and looking after a second home from a distance.

A few questions the guide answers

Does buying Hood Canal waterfront include the tidelands?

Not automatically. Washington sold tidelands separately from uplands until 1971, and its courts have consistently held that upland owners have no riparian rights to the water in front of them. Whether the tidelands come with a parcel has to be confirmed parcel by parcel: in the deed, in the title commitment, and ideally in a survey by someone who has surveyed tidelands before.

Can tribes harvest shellfish on a private Hood Canal beach?

Yes, within limits. Under the 1994 Rafeedie ruling, tribes with usual and accustomed areas on Hood Canal may take up to half the harvestable surplus of naturally occurring shellfish on private tidelands. They survey first, give notice, and are limited to five days a year on a beach, plus a day for each 50 feet of frontage over 200. Shellfish you plant and cultivate yourself are not part of it.

How long does a new dock take to permit?

Plan on 9 to 18 months from application to all approvals, $15,000 to $40,000 in permitting, surveys and studies, and $80,000 to $250,000 or more to build. In-water work is limited to roughly 8 to 10 weeks a year to protect forage fish and salmon.

Is a septic inspection required when you sell?

In Jefferson, Kitsap and Mason counties, yes: each requires an inspection at transfer. In Clallam a status report is often required. The guide lists each county's rule and who to call.

Who wrote it

I'm Kalan Hatton, a real estate broker with Munn Bros Hood Canal Properties, serving the Hood Canal corridor from Port Hadlock and Port Ludlow to Quilcene and Brinnon. As I see it, my job is to ask the hard questions before the offer goes in. There's more on the market here on my Hood Canal real estate page.

This guide is informational. It is not legal, financial or tax advice. Verify anything you plan to rely on with the relevant authority, and talk to a Washington-licensed attorney about your parcel.