Tacoma’s sci-fi park sits on top of a former toxic wasteland

Frank Herbert’s hometown inspired it all

You can walk a loop trail in Tacoma, Washington, where bronze sandworms burrow out of the earth and quotes from a famous sci-fi novel line the path beneath your feet.

Dune Peninsula at Point Defiance Park covers 11 acres on Commencement Bay, and it takes its name from Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel “Dune.” Herbert was born in Tacoma in 1920 and grew up near this very site.

The pollution he saw here reportedly shaped the environmental themes running through the book. What the land looked like before, though, tells a completely different story.

A copper smelter poisoned this ground for a century

For close to 100 years, the ASARCO copper smelter dumped toxic slag into Puget Sound from this spot. That slag piled up over the decades and actually formed the peninsula you walk on today.

The smelter’s smokestack once stood 571 feet tall, the tallest in the world, until crews demolished it in 1993. Tacoma voters approved a bond in 2014 to reclaim the contaminated Superfund site.

Workers hauled out 400,000 cubic yards of bad material, laid a protective geotextile cap over the land, and spent $74.8 million over three years.

Dune Peninsula opened on July 6, 2019.

Walk a trail lined with “Dune” quotes

A paved path named for Herbert loops the full peninsula.

Medallions embedded in the ground carry quotes from the author and his novels, so you read as you go. The trail links to the Ruston Way waterfront path on one end and Point Defiance Park on the other.

It runs wide enough for walkers, joggers, cyclists and families pushing strollers to share without crowding each other.

This stretch is part of a larger trail system that connects downtown Tacoma all the way out to Point Defiance Park.

Stop at “The Moment” on a 605-foot bridge

Wilson Way Bridge stretches 605 feet and rises 50 feet above the ground, connecting Dune Peninsula to Point Defiance Park.

It carries the name of Jack C. Wilson, who ran Metro Parks as executive director for 17 years before retiring in 2016.

Right at the center, designers built a bow-shaped overlook they call “The Moment.” Nearly every person who crosses the bridge stops there.

On a clear day, you can see Mount Rainier, Puget Sound, Vashon Island, and ferries cutting across the water.

Ride six slides built right into the hillside

At the east end of the Wilson Way Bridge, six slides drop about 60 feet from bridge level down to the marina. Metro Parks staff call them a real-life “Chutes and Ladders” experience.

Adults ride them just as much as kids do, and they rank among the park’s most popular draws. If you prefer a slower way down, each slide has a set of stairs running alongside it.

Either way, you end up at the water’s edge with the marina spread out in front of you.

Bronze sandworms burrow through the earth here

Two big public art pieces tie the park to both the novel and the industrial past of this ground.

“Little Makers” by Nichole Rathburn is a set of four bronze sculptures shaped like juvenile sandworms from the “Dune” books. They appear to burrow in and out of the soil on top of an elevated mound.

Nearby, “Alluvion” by Adam Kuby takes steel smokestack pipes and cuts them into pieces of increasing number, starting with one whole pipe and ending with 256 tiny fragments. A 35-ton slag pot replica sits at the park entrance.

Climb the sail mounds for 270-degree views

Three sculpted landforms called sail mounds rise above the rest of the park. Stone terraces and stairs lead to each summit, and every one gives you a different angle.

From the tops, you get close to 270-degree views of Puget Sound, the Olympic Mountains, the Cascade Range, and Mount Rainier. Each summit has its own discovery point.

The mounds themselves sit on layers of clean soil packed over protective caps that seal off the contaminated ground underneath.

Five acres of endangered prairie grow here now

About 5 acres of native Puget Sound prairie habitat fill sections of the park. You will find species like slender cinquefoil and common woolly sunflower growing through the grass.

Only about 3 percent of the original Puget Sound prairie range still exists, which makes this one of the rarest ecosystems in the region. In summer, the grasses grow tall and sway in the breeze blowing off the bay.

The whole landscape rolls into shaped dunes, drought-resistant by design, that give the park its look and its name.

Harbor seals and orcas show up offshore

Harbor seals haul out on rocks just off the peninsula, and you can spot them from the shore on most days. Great blue herons, cormorants, and other seabirds have come back as the habitat recovered.

Pods of orcas sometimes pass through the waters nearby.

The north shoreline was built with rocks placed specifically to create a marine wildlife habitat, and a kelp forest has started to bloom in the surrounding water.

What was toxic ground a decade ago now supports life above and below the surface.

Catch a concert on the amphitheater lawn

At the north end of the park, a concrete stage built into one of the sail mound slopes serves as an amphitheater.

Showbox Presents produces the Dune Peninsula Concert Series here, and past acts have included Caamp and Sam Barber. The open lawn in front of the stage holds community events and gatherings throughout the year.

On days without a show, people spread out blankets for picnics, fly kites, and stretch out in the grass with Puget Sound right behind the stage.

You can walk from downtown Tacoma to Point Defiance now

Dune Peninsula and Wilson Way Bridge filled what planners called the “missing link” in Tacoma’s waterfront trail system.

You can now walk or bike from downtown along the Ruston Way waterfront, a 3.2-mile paved path that passes through several parks, all the way to Point Defiance Park.

Point Defiance itself covers 760 acres and holds a zoo, aquarium, gardens, beaches, and hiking trails.

Dune Peninsula costs nothing to visit, and parking is free.

The park won a national gold medal three months after opening

Just three months after the gates opened, Metro Parks Tacoma took home the 2019 National Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management.

The American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration and the National Recreation and Park Association granted the award, which ranks as the top honor in the industry.

Dune Peninsula’s shift from Superfund site to public park carried the application. The American Public Works Association also gave it a Project of the Year award for historical restoration.

Explore Dune Peninsula in Tacoma, Washington

You can find Dune Peninsula at 5361 Yacht Club Road in Tacoma, inside Point Defiance Park. The park stays open daily during daylight hours, and both admission and parking are free.

A pavilion on-site has restrooms and water fountains.

Wilson Way Bridge connects you directly to Point Defiance Park on one side and the Ruston Way waterfront trail on the other, so you can make a full day of it without moving your car.

Check the official website for concert dates and event schedules before you go.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

Read more from this brand:

• Kurt Cobain’s favorite drum sound came from this Tacoma band
• Trump Wants to Take Over DCs Three Public Golf Courses by New Years
• What are the top restaurant chains you can only find in Texas