Welcome to Tokeland

Experience our unique coastal lifestyle.

Tokeland is named after Chief Toke of the Shoalwater Bay Tribe. Chief Toke made the area a summer home for himself and his family, and his presence was first documented there by Lieutenant John Meares after Toke approached Meares’ ship in his canoe at the mouth of Willapa Bay in 1788.

In 1885, Brown’s daughter Lizzie, and her husband, William Kindred, built the Kindred Inn, which still stands as the current-day Tokeland Hotel, the oldest continuously run hotel in the state of Washington. Today, Tokeland is an unincorporated residential community with a population of 400 and the site of the Shoalwater Bay Indian Reservation. The tribe owns and operates a small casino, convenience store, restaurant and health clinic.

Combining art, beauty and the sea

Tokeland is a popular art community and is currently pursuing Creative District status through the WaArts accreditation program. The annual Woodfest event brings famous chainsaw carvers, music and art vendors together in a spectacular summer time celebration.

Additionally, the 4th of July Old Fashioned Parade & Picnic has taken place in Tokeland on the Saturday nearest to the 4th for over 40 years.

The Tokeland Marina is located at the north of Willapa Bay and offers both recreational and commercial moorage. The Port facilities are on 40 acres and include two seafood servicing buildings, a light industrial building leased to Ambrosia Technologies, a public fishing pier, a high dock, and RV Park and boat ramp.

North Cove lies at the end of Cape Shoalwater, at the mouth of Willapa Bay. It is south of Grayland Beach State Park along State Route 105. In the late 1900s, the town was in a beneficial position, as it was a convenient rest stop for ships making the voyage between Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington. By 1920, the Coast Guard decided to begin moving equipment from the military reservation to Tokeland, Washington due to erosion. Efforts to stabilize the shoreline using dynamic revetment, which employs natural materials such as driftwood and cobble to dissipate wave energy, are showing promise.

The town still survives on the harvesting and canning of oysters, Manila clams, salmon and Dungeness crab. Business is still centered on the harbor, and that’s where people still gather, at a café and bar called Dock of the Bay