Salt Creek Recreation Area, Recreation area near Joyce, Clallam County, Washington, US

Salt Creek Recreation Area is a coastal recreation area on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, situated along the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It covers sea cliffs, gravel beaches, tide pools, and forested trails that connect different sections of the shoreline.

During World War II the site was used to defend the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and concrete observation bunkers were built along the cliffs. After the war the land was converted into a public recreation area, and those structures are still standing today.

The park hosts the Salt Creek Invitational cross country meet every mid-September, drawing high school teams from around western Washington. The course runs through the former Camp Hayden grounds, past the concrete gun casemates left from the fort.

Visiting at low tide gives the best access to the tide pools, as the rocks are mostly exposed then. The cliffs face open water and can be windy, so weather-appropriate layers and sturdy shoes on wet rock are a good idea.

The two 16-inch guns of Battery 131, mounted in casemates that remain standing, could throw a one-ton shell about 28 miles across the Strait of Juan de Fuca. A large magazine bunker links the two positions. The site was renamed Fort Hayden in April 1944 for Brigadier General John Louis Hayden, former commander of the Harbor Defenses of Puget Sound.