Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve, on Whidbey Island in Puget Sound, makes an easy day trip from anywhere in western Washington, with history, trails and beaches in one place. It is not a park in the usual sense but a partnership — the town of Coupeville, Island County, Washington State Parks and the National Park Service share its care — set up to keep a whole working landscape from being built over: Fort Casey, Ebey's Landing and Fort Ebey state parks, the town itself, farms and homes still in use, and the coastal trails between them.
Mount Baker behind the Sherman family barn. NPS
A long-lived landscape
The Skagit and other Native peoples lived on and cultivated Whidbey Island from at least the 1300s. Homesteading families arrived in the 1850s, and some of their farms are still owned by descendants. The result is a mix of farmland, fields, forest and beach, dotted with historic places:
- Sunnyside Cemetery and the Cottage at Sunnyside
- the Crockett Blockhouse
- the Jacob and Sarah Ebey House
- the Island County Historical Museum, in Coupeville
The Crockett Blockhouse and barn. NPS
Two walks
| Trail | What you get |
|---|---|
| Bluff Loop | the reserve's best-known walk: up from a small beach parking area onto a windswept cliff top, with views across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the mountains, wind-bent trees and wildflower fields; then down to a shingle beach between the sea and Perego's Lagoon, where shorebirds rest and fish |
| Pratt Loop | a short, easy loop through the Robert Pratt Preserve, along the edge of working farmland |
The Bluff Loop's beach is small, wave-smoothed pebbles that can be slippery — wear sturdy shoes.
Sunrise on the bluff. NPS
Fort Casey
Fort Casey State Park was one corner of the "Triangle of Fire" — with Fort Worden and Fort Flagler, three forts placed around 1900 to guard the entrance to Puget Sound. Its big guns still sit in their original emplacements, above a network of underground bunkers and batteries; bring a flashlight, because the passages are dark. The park also has the Admiralty Head Lighthouse, surfing, paragliding and a beachside marine campground.
Getting there, and the end of the day
- By road: over the Deception Pass Bridge at the island's north end — stop on the bridge to look down into the swirling green water of the pass.
- By ferry: the Mukilteo or Port Townsend–Keystone ferries.
- Afterwards: supper in historic Coupeville, known for Penn Cove mussels, then a walk along the wharf at sunset with huckleberry ice cream.
More from the Park Service: history and culture and planning a visit.
Sources
Written from "Travel Blog: Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve," by Emma Rockenbeck, a National Park Service Workforce Management Fellow with the Northwest Youth Corps, in the series "A Day in the Life of a Fellow"; published by the National Park Service. The photographs are from the NPS gallery and in the public domain.
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