My name is Meaghan Curren, and I just moved to Deception Pass State Park from Lexington, Kentucky to begin my role as an AmeriCorps member serving as an interpretive naturalist. I attended college at a small liberal arts school, Transylvania …
Gateway to the Forests
by Hayley Johnson Can you guess the area of the park this photo was taken in? If you guessed somewhere along the northern end of Whidbey Island, give yourself a pat on the back. If you recognize these towering trees as ones that belong specifically …
Civilian Conservation Corp Interpretive Center
by Corinne Boroff If you’ve ever spent time at Bowman Bay, you might have seen our Civilian Conservation Corps Interpretive Center (CCCIC). Before becoming an interpretive center, these buildings were originally created as a bathhouse. You can see …
What’s In A Name?
Compiled by Terry Slotemaker, 2022 Would you like to know the origin of place names in Deception Pass State Park and area such as Ben Ure Island, Cougar Gap, Deception Pass, Hoypus Point, Kukutali Preserve, Rosario Beach and Salish Sea? If so, read …
Meet the Black-Bellied Plover
by Jeff Sinker Reprinted with permission from Skagit Audubon Society Our largest plover, at 11.5” tall with a wingspan of 29”, the Black-bellied Plover can be found worldwide on open mudflats, beaches, fields, and tundra. In typical plover behavior when …
Bald Eagles!-Food Stealers
by Cindy Elliser, PhD Director/Founder Pacific Mammal Research Finding food isn’t always easy, and it often takes a lot of work to catch it. This is especially true for predators going after fast moving prey. …
Meet the Park Aides!
You might meet them while checking in for your campsite or buying a Discover Pass. You might spy them from a distance as they clear downed trees off the trails. Maybe you catch them at the end of a long day cleaning the bathrooms. Or you might not even notice …
Beach Combing at Bowman Bay
By JuLee Rudolf, Island Unseen Published November17, 2017 Making my way over and between barnacled, blunt-edged rocks and boulders along the north shore of Bowman Bay, quiet clickings increase in proportion to my pace. Shore crabs in a dozen different …
100 YEAR CELEBRATION RECAP!
How do you celebrate the 100th birthday of anything, let alone one of Washington most visited state park? That was the monumental challenge the Deception Pass Park Foundation undertook over a year ago. Its solution - spread the celebration throughout the year …
East Cranberry Lake
Excerpt from Two Hands and a Shovel by Jack Hartt When Deception Pass first became a state park, the eastern shores of Cranberry Lake were already popular with local communities as a gathering place for swimming, picnicking, and neighborhood …
Park Interpretation
Park Interpretation by Nia Fitzhugh, AmeriCorps Interpretive Naturalist Memorial Day weekend is the official start of summer and the kickoff of summer programs at the park. From 2019- 2020 interpretive staff made over 30,000 interpretive …
Meet the Great Blue Heron
By Jeff Sinker Reprinted with permission from Skagit Audubon Society The largest heron in North America, the Great Blue Heron is widespread and found in both fresh and saltwater habitats, including shorelines, ponds, marshes, estuaries, …
