“Lush” is the first word that comes to mind to describe Willapa Bay’s Long Island. A place lush with ferns, mosses, grasses and, in the fall, plenty of wild mushrooms.

There’s another word, too. Walking up the island’s main path over a bed of lingering summer greenery, one of my fellow hikers stopped in his tracks to say it, except he only mouthed the words:

“It’s so quiet.”

He was right. This was a certain kind of quiet, too, a quiet reserved for places that stand alone. Long Island is part of southwest Washington’s Willapa National Wildlife Refuge, but is accessible from the mainland only by kayak or canoe.

Or, in our case, by one of the several barge trips that the Friends of Willapa National Wildlife Refuge organizes each year. On a tour during the refuge’s recent Wings Over Willapa festival, we were even fortunate enough to have naturalist and Coast Weekend outdoors columnist Rebecca Lexa along as a guide.

We hiked the 6-mile round-trip to the Don Bonker Cedar Grove, a stand of ancient trees near the center of the island. The grove was named for a former Washington state congressman who led efforts to preserve this place.

Along the trail, Rebecca told us about every plant and creature that caught her eye, all with curiosity and delight.

We spent only a few hours on the island, but for those keen on a longer stay, there are 20 campsites available at five different campgrounds. Visitors can also harvest clams and oysters year-round in designated areas with a Washington state shellfish license.