Sandy Beach
  The tailings from the old gold mining operations have
recreated much of Juneau's coastline. The
Lions Club decided that the fine sand of crushed rock would make a very nice
recreational spot on Douglas Island. For
a city that receives only 60 days of sunshine during any given year, a sandy
beach would not get much use. Fortunately,
the Lions built some extensive covered picnic areas in the park.
They employed some creative design in these shelters which feature
moveable walls. Picnickers
can create a large or small area protected from the wind and rain by sliding the
walls around on their tracks.
To find the beach turn right on Egan Highway from the
airport or ferry terminal and head toward downtown. Turn right on 10th to cross the bridge over to
Douglas Island. As soon as you
cross the bridge, make a left on N. Douglas Highway which eventually becomes 3rd
Street. Make a left turn on Savikko
and follow this road around the baseball fields.
This road ends at the Sandy Beach parking lot.
The facilities included restrooms with running water, a
water spigot and two large covered picnic areas with picnic tables and barbecue
grills. There was a playground with
jungle gym equipment and slides for the kids.
There were also two sets of posts for volleyball.
There is no charge for using this area.
This would probably be a lovely place to
lay out and catch some rays while the kids entertain themselves on the
playground equipment. For us, it
was an ideal place to cook our dinner while the rain poured down. When the rain let up for a few minutes I did poke around the
park to see what else I could find. At
the far end (away from the parking lot) there was some old gold mining equipment
and a historical trail that likely leads to the site of the old mining camp.
This trail warrants further exploration on a less rainy day.
Last Visited: July 2000
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