The clothing-optional beaches in Washington, with what the law actually says, where to park, how far the walk is, and what a first visit is like.
4 spots have been written up by hand. A further 13 are on the map from public data but nobody has confirmed them yet.
Someone has actually been to each of these. Where we are unsure, the spot page says so.
Lake Washington, Seattle · Seattle
Getting there. Small lakefront park, long-standing unofficial nude beach. Street parking only.
Rules on the ground. Sexual behavior is prohibited and illegal.
If it is your first time. Compact and can be crowded on hot days. Seattle's best-known nude beach.
Near Bellingham · Bellingham
Getting there. Two small rocky beaches separated by rock outcroppings, less than 500 feet of shoreline in total, off Chuckanut Drive south of Bellingham. The southern beach is smaller but more sheltered, the northern one has more room. It is rock and crushed shell rather than sand, so bring footwear. Clothing optional by custom.
Rules on the ground. Customary and tolerated, not official. Two cautions. The land is privately owned by a shellfish company, and reaching the beach means walking alongside ACTIVE railroad tracks, so keep looking behind you for trains and cover up if one passes while you are in view.
If it is your first time. Northern Washington, a destination trip rather than a quick stop. Wear real shoes for the rock and shell, and treat the train tracks as live, because they are.
Lake Washington, Seattle · Seattle
Getting there. Secluded lakefront strip reached by a wooded path. Quieter alternative to Denny Blaine.
Rules on the ground. Customary/tolerated.
If it is your first time. More private than Denny Blaine. The path down is a bit hidden.
Wanapum Reservoir · Central Washington
Getting there. Shoreline on the Wanapum Reservoir of the Columbia River, across from the town of Vantage near the Gorge Amphitheatre, inside the Frenchman Coulee Recreation Area managed by Grant County Public Utility District. Still a public swimming and recreation area. It is no longer a nude beach, see the legal notes.
Rules on the ground. WARNING, status changed. Grant County Public Utility District, which owns and manages the Frenchman Coulee Recreation Area where this beach sits, began enforcing a no-nudity policy in March 2025. There are now security staff, surveillance cameras and posted signs reading that nudity is prohibited, and in May 2025 one nude visitor was permanently trespassed from all Grant PUD property. The district's legal department declined to designate a clothing-optional zone. Do not treat this as a nude beach.
If it is your first time. Listed here as a warning, not a recommendation. Older guides and forum posts still call this a nude beach. It has been enforced as swimsuits-only since March 2025, so come dressed. Desert side of the state, hot and dry in summer.
These come from OpenStreetMap. They are real places at real coordinates, but nobody has been to them for us yet, so there is no write-up: no parking notes, no word on whether the road is open, no clothing policy. We label them exactly that way rather than pretending otherwise.
If you go to one, you can be the first person to confirm it, and you stay credited on that spot permanently.
Washington's indecent exposure statute, RCW 9A.88.010, requires an open and obscene exposure that the person knows is likely to cause reasonable affront or alarm. Nudity by itself is not the offence. The statute is aimed at conduct directed at someone, and it explicitly exempts breastfeeding. Washington courts have read it narrowly for that reason.
This is not a green light, and please do not read it as one. A state statute is only the first of several rules that apply where you are standing. Counties and cities pass their own ordinances, and the land manager, whether that is the Forest Service, the BLM, State Parks, a county parks department or a private owner, sets its own rules on top of the law and can enforce them regardless of what the statute says. A place can be perfectly lawful under state law and still get you a citation from a ranger.
What we do on each spot page is tell you what is actually known about that specific place: who manages it, whether nudity is customary or designated there, and what people who have been report. Where we do not know, we say we do not know. We are not lawyers and this is not legal advice.
Statute: RCW 9A.88.010. Last reviewed August 2026. If you think anything here is out of date, tell us. We would rather be corrected than wrong.
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