A Hazel Dell Summer: The Short Windows When The Neighborhood Opens Up
July 9, 2026
July 9, 2026
Most of the year, Hazel Dell keeps its best places behind fences and posted hours. The 79-acre farm on 78th Street is closed to walk-ins. Klineline's beach sits empty. The newer bars on 78th are still finding their footing. Summer is the six-to-eight-week stretch when all of that flips.
The thesis is simple: if you live here, July and August are the months when the neighborhood's normally-private middle actually opens. The big civic event of the year is already behind us, and what's left is a set of narrow calendar windows worth planning around.
The 78th Street Heritage Farm is the largest single-owned open parcel in Hazel Dell, and public access has been the exception, not the rule. WSU Clark County Extension is running walking tours on a fixed calendar this year, and if you have not been on the property before, this is the month for it.
The remaining registered tour dates:
Registration is required through the WSU Extension site. This matters because the farm's history is easy to miss from the road. The site operated as a county poor farm from the 1870s through the 1940s, was later run as a WSU research and experimental farm, and was placed on the Washington Historic Register in 2012 and the National Register the following year.
The bigger context: Clark County is finally moving on public access. Parks planner Lynde Wallick has confirmed a 1,200-square-foot pavilion with permanent restrooms is entering design and permitting, with earliest construction in late summer 2026 and an opening planned for early 2027. Cost is estimated at $1.1 million, funded through real estate excise taxes and park fees. A second phase adds a trail system connecting the farm south to Hazel Dell Community Park on 66th Street, with a possible boardwalk loop over the wetlands. Lifelong resident Ila Westergard told The Columbian in December that after decades of planning cycles, she would settle for a trail on the lower part of the property.
Translation for anyone reading this before the pavilion opens: this summer is the last one where the only way in is a scheduled tour.
Salmon Creek Regional Park is the swim beach for the north side of Vancouver, and the operating window is narrower than most Hazel Dell newcomers realize.
Two changes worth knowing this year. The splash pad is confirmed on for summer 2026, automated to run between noon and 6 p.m. on days when the forecasted high hits 80 degrees or above. That is a temperature gate, not a calendar gate. On a cool, cloudy July afternoon in the mid-70s, expect it dry.
The swim beach at Klineline Pond has no lifeguards on duty this season. That is a shift some parents have not registered. The county's language is clear: visitors are responsible for the safety of any minor in their care. If you have been operating on muscle memory from previous summers when guards were posted from Independence Day through Labor Day, adjust accordingly.
One more piece of housekeeping: the softball fields parking lot at Salmon Creek Regional Park is scheduled for repaving in August and will close for two to three weeks. If you rely on that lot for trail access rather than the main lot, plan to shift over to the NW 117th Street side or the NW 36th Avenue trailhead while the work is happening.
The Salmon Creek Greenway Trail is 3.9 miles of paved path between NW 36th Avenue and Klineline, running through 850 acres of greenway that opened in 1996. On a July Saturday at 11 a.m., it feels like a busy suburban trail. At 7 a.m., it feels like a wildlife refuge with pavement through it.
The route follows Salmon Creek through wetlands where wood duck boxes are set into the tree line, herons hunt the shallows, and eagles sometimes work the pond edge at Klineline. The stretch through Cougar Canyon is the shaded section worth targeting when the afternoon starts climbing into the mid-90s. If you want a shorter loop, the AllTrails-marked 2.5-mile loop from the softball field lot back to Klineline covers most of the good scenery and returns you to the car in under an hour.
For anyone with mobility considerations, the softball field entrance off NE 117th Street offers a flatter approach than the NW 36th Avenue trailhead, which starts with a fairly steep decline down to creek grade.
The Hazel Dell food scene has been quietly restacking. Here is what to know if your default was the same three places three years ago:
| Spot | Location | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| The Sipp Public House | 1919 NE 78th St | Rotating craft beer, cider and wine flights with seasonal small plates. Newer arrival to the neighborhood. |
| Amaro's Table Hazel Dell | NE 78th St corridor | Sit-down dinner with a menu that changes with the seasons. |
| Ghost Runners Brewery and Kitchen | Hazel Dell | House beer with a food menu that holds up on its own. |
| La Oie Cajun Cuisine | Food truck in Hazel Dell | Cajun-French from a cabin-shaped truck. Quick lunch or takeout for a Greenway picnic. |
| Frontier Public House | Hazel Dell | Neighborhood pub with reliable weekend hours. |
| Playmakers Sports Bar + Grill | 1503 NE 78th St | Game-day watch spot with kitchen open late. |
The Sipp is the one worth putting on the radar first if you have not been. Explorethecouve profiled it earlier this year as one of the affordable, elevated beverage-forward rooms driving the 2026 restaurant class, with a menu that turns over by season. It sits three blocks from the parade route on 78th Street, which is the same corridor most of these places share.
The 60th Annual Hazel Dell Parade of Bands ran on May 16, drawing what organizers estimated at up to 20,000 spectators along Hazel Dell Avenue, 63rd Street, and Highway 99. Twenty-three marching bands from Clark County schools made the route, and twelve retired band directors served as grand marshals. The Hazel Dell Salmon Creek Business Association reports the parade has run every spring since 1966 with only a two-year pause during the pandemic. The Columbian's coverage noted rain did not thin the crowd.
For anyone who missed it, Clark/Vancouver Television has the full parade posted on cvtv.org. For next year: it lands on the third Saturday in May, and the best viewing spots on Hazel Dell Avenue fill up before 10 a.m.
Between now and then, the calendar to actually plan around is shorter than most residents assume: the Heritage Farm tour dates through the end of June, Klineline's warm-weather afternoons, the pavilion groundbreaking sometime in late summer, and the shoulder-season Greenway walks before the leaves turn. That is the year in Hazel Dell in one paragraph.
If you own a home here and you have been meaning to test what your place is worth in a market where 78th Street is quietly attracting new operators and the county is investing seven figures into the farm two blocks away, that is a real conversation worth having. Sarah Roth Homes works with sellers across Hazel Dell and the surrounding SW Washington communities on a 1% listing option, with the prep, marketing, and vendor coordination handled end to end. Schedule a free consultation whenever you want a straight read on your street.
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