A Present From The Past -- Anacortes Wilderness Park Is A Small- Town Treasure

ANACORTES - There's more to do here than queue up for the Washington state ferry at Ship Harbor.

You might want to veer from that crowd and head toward the forest, shore and rocky outlooks of Washington Park just a couple of minutes away.

The 200-acre park occupies all of Fidalgo Head on the knobby northwest tip of Fidalgo Island. It has gravel and slab rock beaches, camping areas, meadow-like expanses of grass, a dense forest and trails knee-deep in salal. And some of the most fantastic views imaginable.

Developers and builders must suffer tormenting fantasies as they drive the skinny one-lane (and one way) road that winds along one side of Fidalgo Head and then the switchbacks up and over to a popular viewpoint on the other.

Imagine. A house here with a view of Rosario Strait, a condo tower there looking down on Burrows Bay, a beach mansion with Guemes Channel and the San Juan Islands for a front yard.

It won't happen. Washington Park has been a cherished public park for more than 80 years. Even on the worst-weather day you can find visitors driving the 2.3-mile loop road or trudging along one of the many trails that cross the headland.

A turn-of-the-century businessman and pioneer, Tonjes Havekost, began the park with a gift of eight acres and a request: "Make my cemetery a park for everybody."

The city erected a granite memorial to Havekost after his death in 1913. It still stands on a steep slope overlooking Burrows Bay. Over the years, the park grew from contributions and purchases.

We've been visiting the park for more than 40 years to walk the road and trails, to bicycle or to exercise a dog, and to dine from a picnic hamper as the sun sets beyond Rosario Strait and the San Juan Islands. In the winter and spring we bring binoculars and a bird guide and try to identify migrating ducks that stop there.

Our kids grew up with visits to Washington Park. Today, we huff along behind our granddaughters. The view means little to them now. But wait.

Not being campers, we've not tried one of the park's 68 campsites, many of which have electricity and water service. The park has hot showers and a laundry.

Anacortes has done a good job of separating the supporting infrastructure of a park - parking, a launch ramp for sport-fishing boats, a kids' play area, an RV dump and the campground - from the forest and beaches of Fidalgo Head.

The city has blacktopped the one-lane road, but it remains otherwise unchanged, with several sharp switchbacks and occasional parking spaces cut into banks of salal.

On trails, watch for roots and rocks underfoot. Some trails can be slick, either from mud or dry grass along the bluffs overlooking the water.

As you walk or drive into the park, the road follows the shoreline of Rosario Strait. Guemes Channel and Bellingham Channel join Rosario off the park. In the summer, there's a procession of boats and ships. In the winter, southerly winds stir the merging waters into a dangerous and dramatic maelstrom.

As the road nears the tip of Fidalgo Head it turns inland through the forest and then rises to an outlook several hundred feet above Burrows Bay. The face of the bluff is rocky, with moss and flowering plants underfoot; a trail leads down toward the water.

Burrows Passage often is busy with pleasure boats bound for or leaving Skyline Marina, on Flounder Bay just below the park.

In the summer, with the sun in the south, this is the place to be at dusk. The horizon will be alight with fire. The islands, green and brown by day, will assume ever-darkening shades of purple and blue until, with the disappearance of the sun, they become black bands on the horizon.

For me, a pair of spectacular trees reflect the enduring nature of the park.

One of them grows from the bank, just below the road, and juts out horizontally over the beach as if it is reaching toward the water. For decades kids have climbed it, artists have painted it and thousands have snapped photos. It hangs on.

The second is at the viewpoint overlooking Burrows Bay. There you'll see what appears to be the tall, gray skeleton of a tree. Bare branches silhouetted against the sky, it also is a favorite with artists, photographers and kids with a yen to climb.

But it is not dead. Tufts of green flourish at the distant end of several branches. It, too, holds on to life.

Washington Park is a big-city treasure in a small town. Every place should have one like it.

Bob Lane is a former reporter for The Seattle Times.

--------- IF YOU GO ---------

Traveling to Anacortes

Anacortes is about 90 minutes north of Seattle. Take Interstate 5 north to Burlington and then follow Highway 20 across the Skagit flats and into Anacortes.

In town, follow signs to the state ferry terminal - take Commercial Avenue and then turn left at 12th Street; 12th flows into Oakes Avenue, which parallels Guemes Channel.

Don't turn into the ferry terminal loading area. Continue on about one mile beyond the traffic light at the terminal until you see the signs marking the entrance to Washington Park, which is about 3.3 miles from downtown Anacortes.

-- A visit to Washington Park can easily be done in one day from the Seattle area. But consider overnighting in one of the 20 B&Bs and small hotels in the area; some are in classic old homes, others have saltwater views.

The Anacortes Chamber of Commerce visitors' bureau at 819 Commercial Avenue has brochures. Phone: 360-293-3832. Website: www.anacortes.org/.

The website lists several categories, including useful weather tables and monthly events. October, for example, will feature the annual Oyster Run. Approximately 5,000 motorcyclists - astride their machines - will cruise into downtown Anacortes to celebrate the end of their ride and, presumably, down many oysters.

-- Several restaurants are at the ferry terminal and one at Skyline Marina on Flounder Bay, just south of Washington Park. There are many more in town.

-- Espresso drinkers will want to stop at the Fidalgo Bay Roasting Co., on Commercial Avenue at Seventh Street. A coffee roaster is in the window; they also roast peanuts (occasionally with the added flavor of jalapeno). After a long day of walking, or to get ready for that kind of day, try an espresso drink called a Turtle.

- Bob Lane