Whidbey Island

The Ebey’s Landing Hike on Whidbey Island, Washington

bellinghamwalks7 Comments

Ebey’s Landing, on the west side of Whidbey Island, Washington, (near Coupeville, Washington) is one of the last undisturbed saltwater-influenced lagoons of the Puget Sound’s coastal lowlands. Above the lagoon towers the arid bluff with its fragile plant life unique to Ebey’s and only a few other areas in the world. It is managed and protected by a number of agencies, including The Nature Conservancy. Here is a little information about that.

A little history of Ebey’s Landing on Whidbey Island, Washington

This hike has been a longtime favorite of Aaron’s and mine. In fact, we were married about a mile from this dramatic historical headland at The Jenne Farm, which is a preserved farm within the Ebey’s Landing National Historic Reserve. The ceremony was on a gorgeous day in June seventeen years ago and we all came over to the beach at Ebey’s Landing afterwards to continue celebrating and to enjoy this amazing place.

The Ebey’s Landing hike begins in the parking lot, ascends a series of steep wooden stairs to the field above, continues to climb up the bluff to a gently rolling trail along the bluff, and descends on the far end via an elaborate series of switchbacks to the beach. The hiker walks back to the parking area along the beach. We so appreciate loop trails like this one, which is 3.5 miles in total. It’s perfect for packing a picnic lunch on the beach or take the short drive into Coupeville for a steaming bowl of Penn Cove mussels after your hike. Coupeville is located right on Penn Cove, which is famous for its mussel industry. It is also just a super quaint little town. Very touristy all year long and offers a fun Musselfest in March every year and Coupeville Arts and Crafts Festival every August. Can you tell we really like it here?! ( :

Parking Lot at Ebey’s Landing with the headland in the distance
A Discover Pass is needed to park in the lot but if you turn around, you can park on the road without one! See next picture!
Road parking at Ebey’s Landing…no Discover Pass required!
Aaron took the pictures for this post so I got to be in some of them! Yes, I’m hiking in my Keen sandals…easy on and off for walking in the waves!
Stair climb!
Ascending the Bluff
Looking back towards trailhead…what a view!
Ferry from Coupeville going to Port Townsend with Mount Ranier in the distance. We had just crossed on this ferry coming from Port Townsend on our way home from Olympia, WA and decided to stop for a hike on this absolutely glorious day!
Okay, last one of us! Aaron holds the phone and I push the button. Teamwork!
The bluff is super steep!
Looking straight down the bluff at the beach below. You really want to stay on the trail here!
Looking southwest, across Admiralty Inlet, to the snow-capped Olympic Mountains of Olympic National Park.
Looking back one more time before the parking area disappears around the bend.

The next three pictures are Aaron’s artistic pictures of the beach at Ebey’s Landing. This hike is a great day trip from Bellingham or anywhere in the Puget Sound really. There are two campgrounds nearby, Fort Casey and Fort Ebey, plus numerous Inns and B&B’s in Coupeville, if you want to make a weekend of it. This is just as good as it gets!

Happy Walking and thanks for reading!

~Ann