Washington Park

I was here August 13 to 18, 2023. The dry sites are on the small side and not all of them are level. Mine was okay and I didn't need to unhitch, which saves time and energy. There are wonderful walking trails and access to a beach. Also a lovely place to sit and look out over the water. Very relaxing place, if that's what you prefer as well as a place to get in a hike. I really enjoyed it and did return ten days later.

We very much enjoyed the quiet of this park after seeing the chaos Anacortes has become. Our site was a level pull thru picnic table (old and nasty) and a fire pit that we were grateful to use. The park has water and electric. We got 4G Verizon with 3 bars. There are lots of hiking/walking trail options in this park which I took advantage of as much as I could.

Very close to the ferry (5 minute drive). The trailhead is around site A19 and has a direct path to the beach. The trailhead also gives you access to a few miles of fairly easy, dog friendly hiking trails.

Sites were a bit small right to left, but ours went back a fair bit so we felt we had enough privacy. It was a tight squeeze getting into the spot and around the campground - this might not be the best place to stay if you have a longer rig. All sites seem to have a fair number of trees.

Dump station right at the park exit. There is a Safeway for gas and groceries just down the road in Anacortes (maybe a 10 minute drive). Water and electricity at all sites in the A and C loops (B is no hookups) but be aware that some sites have hookups on the passenger side - our usual 30 amp cord wasn’t able to reach.

Some sites can be reserved. Some are first come first served. First come first serve wasn’t too bad. We got here Thursday lunchtime before a holiday weekend and there were five or six spots open between the A and C loops - three of which we could fit into. Unsure if the campground ever filled up 100%, but we did notice some of those spots were taken by Friday morning. If you do first come first serve, there is a machine that take cards near the entrance where the three loops split - instructions say pay there and put the pay slip on your dashboard.

Since it was a holiday weekend, we can’t be sure if our noise experience was typical. We had big groups on both sides of us - nice and respectful, but talkative until pretty late.

Internet:
AT&T: 13mbps down
Verizon: <1mbps down in the campground, but 5 in the day use area

We did not have a reservation but were hopeful to find a camping spot mid-week (some sites are on first come, first serve basis). The park manager was very helpful in finding us a site and registering us so we could leave the site for lunch in town. There is ample space between sites and the hiking amenities are second to none: a paved 2.3 mile path around the park, as well as many forest walking/biking paths, lovely beaches and a great picnic area. We loved our time here.

Anacortes just can't help themselves about raising already expensive fees and adding others like non-residents getting extra penalized and now bikers/hikers too.

Yes, it is a beautiful PUBLIC park, very popular and accommodations. This use to be a regular, daily place to visit for me but that is going to change. Unacceptable Anacortes!

Refer to my pic...Effective May, 1, 2021

We stayed three nights over New Years in stormy, wet weather. We didn't mind the weather but we were concerned about branches coming down in the high winds. I was on a walk when a big gust hit and a large branch came down with a crash about 50 feet away. We started out in site A-10 for the first night but moved to C-13 for the next two nights for better hookups and safety from falling branches.
The "A" loop hasn't been upgraded yet and the 30 amp outlet was loose and tired. I wasn't comfortable relying on it to provide consistent power for appliances and just used the 15 amp outlet on the power pedestal (with it's tighter contacts) to keep the batteries charged. There were no problems with utilities in the "C" loop, they were upgraded last year. "A" loop may be upgraded soon too. I talked to park personnel about the power issues in the A-loop site, they were super helpful but there wasn't anything they could do without replacing the outlet in the pedestal. Since the park was largely empty in that time of year, they allowed me to move to any site that was open. The city of Anacortes set aside some campsites for homeless people during the winter months and there were people taking advantage of it. We experienced no problems due to other campers.
It's an old, heavily forested campground with no pavement so the gravel roads and campsites have collected a lot of organic debris that is messy when wet.
It's hard to beat the beauty of Washington Park surrounded by salt water views on the northwestern tip of Fidalgo Island. Many locals use the park everyday for walking but the campground is only used by campers. There's a restroom between the "C" loop and the tent camping sites in "B" loop but it is closed seasonally. There's another restroom with showers open year round a short distance away.
During out visit, we got two bars of T-Mobile outside our trailer but only one bar indoors. The water stays on year round at the campsites.