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Scenic views, hiking, biking, horseback riding, swimming, fishing. On Orcas Island. FERRY ACCESS ONLY. No boat access to park itself and park has no saltwater activities. 33 mi of hiking trails. Visit Cascade Falls - a spectacular 70' drop. Drive the twisting road to the top of Mt Constitution with great views and a CCC era observation tower. On clear days see the Olympics Mountain range, The Cascade Mountains, and Mount Baker as well as the surrounding islands of the San Juans.
Driving Directions: Travel North from Seattle on I-5, South from Vancouver BC on I-5. in the Mt. Vernon/Burlington Area take Exit 230, travel West on Hwy 20 to Anacortes, (approx 20 miles) follow signs to San Juan Ferries. Take ferry to Orcas Island. At Orcas Island take a left off the ferry and follow the road 14 miles to the park. There are signs along the way.
Thick wooded area with small, tight campsites on the hillside (mid-camp). Quiet at night. Trail around Cascade Lake is nice. Don’t forget the east side trail is up above the roadway!
Love this place. Have visited many times and camped several. A variety of hikes both in terms of difficulty and experience. By the latter I mean a short small valley trail, around the lake loop trails, and up the mountain through forest with vistas from thousands of feet up. And a little "castle" too. The last 3 night trip I got in two hikes. paddled my yak and swam in 2 different awesome little lakes. At night, a 10 min walk to the lake shore to view the moonlight on the lake. Winner.
Also, the dork in me loves the rare firewood vending machine. Great to help the effort of not transporting firewood between eco systems and just cool at the use of tech. Yes, I feed it my credit card and a bundle of wood comes rolling down the shoot.
Campsites are a little small and can be kind of close together though it varies across the 3 campgrounds. You have to ask yourself if you are there for remotness and privacy (no) or easy access / close probity to one of the lakes. 4 sure. bathrooms were clean and stocked.
I really liked State Park camping. My campsite was facing to the lake. Closer to lake shore beach. I did a lot of hiking in the morning then SUP board paddling in the afternoon. 10mins drive to small downtown. Restroom was clean.
Outstanding campground. Calm place with high and big trees. Enjoyable hike to waterfalls and around lake. Warm water in a lake, kids enjoyed several days of sweeming. Booking a bit tough and should be done upfront especially ferry reservation is tough and their site usually keeps failing with slow performance.
Went to Orcas for the day with the wife and 9 yr old daughter and ended up in Moran State Park. Did the Cascade Lake Loop, absolutely gorgeous and perfect hike for the kiddo, just under 3 miles, not much elevation and beautiful views of the lake almost all the way around.
