Recreation

Play a quick round of golf at Lake Limerick Country Club (790 E. Saint Andrews Dr., 360/426-6290, www.lakelimerick.com [1]) a fir tree–lined nine-hole course playable year-round.

Cyclists can check out a relatively level nine miles of forested single-track just north of Shelton [2]. The Lower South Fork Skokomish Trail can be reached by taking Highway 101 north of town, turning west on Skokomish Valley Road, taking Road 23 to the Brown Creek Campground and then following Forest Service Road 2394 for a bumpy quarter mile.

Shelton is a good place to enjoy some of Mason County’s better hunting. Deer, elk, grouse, turkey, goose, and duck are all legal within season. Or, if you've got the guts, come out and take down a fearsome bear. Regulations are many and can be found at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (360/902-2464, www.wdfw.wa.gov [3]).

You’ll need a boat to get to tiny Stretch Point State Park [4] (12 miles north of Shelton next to the town of Grapeview, www.parks.wa.gov [5]), which has no camping, showers, toilets, or drinking water but has one of the best sandy beaches around Puget Sound. Grapeview itself has vineyards, a country store, marina, and a sometimes-open museum.