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Submission
A quick paddle or boat ride will get you to Hope Island State Park between La Conner and Whidbey Island on Skagit Bay. Once on the island, quiet hikes through forest and wildland meadows will charm you and relieve your stress.
Boaters know this park as a great place to tie up and take in the sunset or sunrise, but many come ashore and pitch a tent at one of Hope Island's primitive campsites.
Whether you arrive on a luxury boat, by the power of your arms and shoulders, or anything in between, you'll feel far from your daily routine and deserving of this island time.
PARK FEATURES
Hope Island Marine State Park is a 181-acre marine park with six campsites, two mooring buoys, lovely beaches and a trail across the island. Most of the island is a nature preserve, and visitors are asked to stay on established trails and in designated campsites.
The park offers six primitive campsites on the north shore bay. The pay station is near the eastern campsite. A vault toilet is in the woods 100-feet south of the campsites. The rest of the island is a Natural Area Preserve, off limits to recreational use. Standard primitive campsite rules apply.The overnight parking fee is in effect at Cornet Bay boat launch.
Check-in time is 2:30 p.m.
Check-out time is 1 p.m.
My only complaint about this place is something that the parks department can't really do anything about.
It has potential to be a very peaceful and quiet place. However, when there are flight operations at NAS Whidbey, the planes go right over the island. The other issue is all of the boat traffic that goes by. During my visit out to Hope Island today, there were probably only about 30 seconds straight where you didn't hear any beyond what was natural.
It's a good place to go if you're looking to get away from people. There's boat mooring near the island but no dock. you need a landing craft of some sort be it a kayak or a runabout.
Even with the noise from the boat traffic and airplanes, it still provided a much needed respite.
Great place for a weekend, need a dingy to access the other side of the island.
Brought my sailboat to the mooring balls on the NW side of the island this weekend. Moorings were available and well-spaced, and a nice short dinghy ride to the beach. Just be careful of high tide - there's not a lot of room to bring your dinghy up higher than the highest tide, so tie it off. Hiking trails were very nice and the area was well protected from southerlies blowing as well.
