Arts & Entertainment Community

Two in Tow & On the Go | Dash on over to this Tacoma park

Posted on August 29th, 2025 By: Tonya Strickland

Our visit to Dash Point Park & Pier last week brought together the fun of the present—beach swings, soft sand and a simple game of catch —with the nostalgia of the community’s long history of working together to find joy along the shore. Countless people before us have gathered for Dash Point’s famous Dock Dinners, log rolling competitions, and summer swims. And while the dock itself is now closed for safety, the sense of community and calm is still very much alive there.

Established in 1922, Dash Point Park & Pier offers 700 feet of sandy saltwater beach, views of Puget Sound, fishing access, a picnic shelter, public restrooms, parking, and a small beach playground. Not to be confused with the nearby Dash Point State Park, the Dash Point Park & Pier site is run by public rec agency Parks Tacoma and is located in a residential area separated from the beach park by a small public parking lot.

IF YOU GO:

Dash Point Park & Pier

1500 Beach Drive NE, Tacoma

Website

The neighborhood

Here’s a cool photo from The News Tribune, October 24, 1971 edition that shows just how close the homes are to the park and beach there. First and foremost, I love the brunette gal in the snazzy pants with her dogs. Behind her, you can see a residential street runs parallel to the park, a backdrop of moments where people, pets, and beach life blend. A closer look at the hillside, which looks very similar today, reveal closely spaced houses that vary in style but share a common beachy vibe: a bungalow with a gabled roof, wood siding; a home with large picture windows and a broad deck shaded by a shake roof; and a home with a simple boxy shape with a garage. Together, they reflect a mix of mid-century and earlier craftsman-influenced styles of the tight-knit community.

Tacoma News Tribune, Image TNT0788D, Tacoma Public Library Northwest Room.

Our day

When we went, a thin strip of sandy beach stretched out before us with the site’s larger footprint mostly cut off by the high tide. While the kids (and our summertime “Three in Tow” pal, Greg) gravitated toward the beach swings, I found myself walking along and taking pictures. The driftwood scattered across the little beach added its own character to the landscape – a living scrapbook of the tides. I thought about how generations of families took in many of the same sights (minus a modern pleasure boat, or five) so many years before us.

News clips dating back decades say Dash Point was known for its soft sand—a rarity compared to many local beaches dusted in jagged oyster shells. My kids sure appreciated it, too, and scooped up the sand with ease after running in their water socks without the worry of getting jabbed underfoot.

The water there also seemed nice, but the sun was hiding behind the clouds most of the time and, well, the water is cold here on the Puget Sound.

In fact, I laughed while reading another Tacoma News Tribune story that described “one of the earliest permanent settlers at Dash Point, a man named Harry Johnston.” In 1946, “when asked how Dash Point got its name, he had a ready answer: ‘The water is so cold you dash right in — and dash right out again.'”

Ha!

So, we skipped a swim that day. But we did see other kids splashing and floating in the shallows.

Old news clips described Dash Point as having the calmest waters around. The open water did feel a lot like those special “waveless beaches” we knew in California. (Even still, I always recommend life jackets for any combo of kid and open water/Puget Sound).

Beach swings

As I walked back toward the swings, I couldn’t help but think that beach playgrounds are just plain cool.

They’re not designed in any special ways, but they’re awesome for just existing since it’s kind of rare to see playground equipment set against such a backdrop. And, with the kids’ feet kicking out toward Commencement Bay, the act of swinging seemed to give the park a sense of whimsy and a carefree quality that really made our time there more memorable.

Wyatt on the beach swings, August 2025.

“Time Machine”

According to a “Time Machine” feature in the Tacoma News Tribune’s June 26, 1977 edition featuring news clips from the past, Dash Point settlers had to find ways to stick together due to their geography:

“… Dorothy Milne Rising, writing in The News Tribune in 1969, recalled the early days when her family members were pioneers at Dash Point in 1907. Although Dash Point is on the mainland at the northern end of Pierce County, there was no road to it then and no wharf where launches could land. Larger boats had to anchor and passengers were taken ashore by rowboat. According to Mrs. Rising’s account … the first dock, built of logs and timber, did not last long. A second one followed but it, too, fell prey to the elements and to shipworms.”

Dash Point history marker by Parks Tacoma, located at the beach. Photo by Tonya Strickland.

” … When the dock was rebuilt in 1917, the concrete had to be poured at night when the tide was low. It was December and raining hard, and the workers were soon soaked to the skin. So the women of Dash Point stayed up all night to provide sandwiches and hot coffee for the men. An early development at Dash Point was the formation of the Dash Point Social and Improvement Club. Dues were $5 a year. Members built a tennis court, and early residents also cooperated in building a log bulkhead along the beach. Launches took care of the transportation problem in the early years, but later a dirt road went through Julia’s Gulch past Northeast Tacoma and opened the way for other community necessities.”

The News Tribune, June 26, 1977

One of those ways of leaning on each other was through community events. Arguably, the most popular was Dash Point’s famed Dock Dinners, which lasted for decades.

This photograph, for example, preserved by the Tacoma Public Library’s Northwest Room but originally published by the Tacoma News Tribune on August 9, 1981, captures a bustling summer event at Dash Point. A large group gathers along the dock that reaches out over the water. It’s crowded with people strolling, chatting, and fishing at the far end, while others appear to be watching water activities from the pier. The famed Dock Dinner, featuring beef barbecue, was advertised on a prominent sign overhead promoting a weekend of activities including carnival games, water skiing and jet ski races. Folks in swim trunks, floppy hats and even chunky heels move between shaded areas and a large umbrella — news reports from the day say it wa 90+ degrees. Portable toilets are set up near the dock entrance, with a sign noting that permanent restrooms are closed (the permanent restrooms were open when we went in August 2025).

That beachy/cool/small-community atmosphere seen in the photo from 44 years ago isn’t so unlike the scene in 2025, even though the pier is closed.

Except … I’d like to take a moment here to make the argument that the outfits were way better back then. Short-shorts, tube tops and all those awesome haircuts?! I mean … yes, please.

See ya out there!

Tacoma News Tribune, Image TNT0793D, Tacoma Public Library Northwest Room

Mom and two kids standing with water and boats in the background.

@two.n.tow

Tonya Strickland is a Gig Harbor mom-of-two and longtime journalist. Now in the travel and family niche, her blog, Two in Tow & On the Go, was named among the 10 Seattle-Area Instagram Accounts to Follow by ParentMap magazine. Tonya and her husband Bowen moved to Gig Harbor from California with their two kids, Clara (11) and Wyatt (9) in 2021. Find them on Facebook for all the kid-friendly places in and around town.