Deception Pass is a strait separating Whidbey Island from Fidalgo Island, in the northwest part of the U.S. state of Washington. It connects Skagit Bay, part of Puget Sound, with the Strait of Juan de Fuca. A pair of bridges known collectively as Deception Pass Bridge cross Deception Pass. The bridges were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
Puget Sound is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and two minor connections to the open Pacific Ocean via the Strait of Juan de Fuca—Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and Deception Pass and Swinomish Channel being the minor.
Whidbey Island is the largest of the islands composing Island County, Washington, in the United States. Whidbey is about 30 miles (48 km) north of Seattle, and lies between the Olympic Peninsula and the I-5 corridor of western Washington. The island forms the northern boundary of Puget Sound. It is home to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island.
Island County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2010 census, its population was 78,506. Its county seat is Coupeville, while its largest city is Oak Harbor.
Freeland is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) on Whidbey Island in Island County, Washington, United States. At the time of the 2010 census the population was 2,045. The town received its name based on its origins as a socialist commune in the early 1900s: in the eyes of its founders, the land of the town was literally to be free for all people. Some of the first settlers were veterans of a prior experiment in socialism, the nearby Equality Colony.
Marrowstone is a census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson County, Washington, United States. The population was 844 at the 2010 census. All Marrowstone addresses are in Nordland, Washington, and the ZIP code for Marrowstone Island is 98358.
Camano Island is a large island in Possession Sound, a section of Puget Sound. It is part of Island County, Washington, and is located between Whidbey Island and the mainland by the Saratoga Passage to the west and Port Susan and Davis Slough to the east. The island has one road connection to the mainland, via State Route 532 over the Camano Gateway Bridge at the northeast end of the island, connecting to the city of Stanwood.
Admiralty Inlet is a strait in the U.S. state of Washington connecting the eastern end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Puget Sound. It lies between Whidbey Island and the northeastern part of the Olympic Peninsula.
Fidalgo Island is an island in Skagit County, Washington, located about 60 mi (97 km) north of Seattle. To the east, it is separated from the mainland by the Swinomish Channel, and from Whidbey Island to the south by Deception Pass. The island is named after the Spanish explorer and cartographer Salvador Fidalgo who explored the area in 1790.
Mukilteo Lighthouse Park encompasses the lighthouse at the west end of the city of Mukilteo, Washington, and 12 acres (0.049 km2) south of it. The property is west and south of the Washington State Ferries terminal with ferry service to Clinton, Whidbey Island, and is bordered on the south and east by the BNSF Railway mainline. Whidbey Island lies across a narrow portion of Possession Sound and is easily visible from the shore.
Deception Pass Bridge is the common name for two, two-lane bridges on Washington State Route 20 connecting Whidbey Island in Island County, to Fidalgo Island in Skagit County, in the U.S. state of Washington. It was a Washington State Highways project, and included project elements built by young workers from the Civilian Conservation Corps. Completion of the bridge was a factor in the decision to build Naval Air Station Whidbey Island and helped Oak Harbor flourish. The bridge is a commonly photographed landmark of the Puget Sound region.
Island Transit is a zero-fare transit system in Island County, Washington, serving Whidbey Island and Camano Island. The system consists of fixed-route bus service, paratransit, and vanpools, and carried a total of 974,899 passengers in 2015. There is no Sunday or holiday service on Island Transit routes.
Possession Sound is part of Puget Sound, located in the U.S. state of Washington between Whidbey Island and the shoreline of Snohomish County approximately between the cities of Everett and Mukilteo. Possession Sound connects the main Puget Sound basin to the south with Saratoga Passage and Port Susan to the north. The Snohomish River flows into Possession Sound at Port Gardner Bay. Gedney Island, also called Hat Island, is located in Possession Sound.
Port Gardner, also known as Port Gardner Bay, is an inlet of Possession Sound on which the city of Everett, Washington is located. The Snohomish River flows into the north end of the bay.
Rosario Strait is a strait in northern Washington state, separating San Juan County and Skagit and Whatcom Counties. It extends from the Strait of Juan de Fuca about 23 kilometres (14 mi) north to the Strait of Georgia. The USGS defines its southern boundary as a line extending from Point Colville on Lopez Island to Rosario Head on Fidalgo Island, and its northern boundary as a line from Point Migley on Lummi Island to the east tip of Puffin Island and then to Point Thompson on Orcas Island. Rosario Strait runs north-south between Lopez, Decatur, Blakely, and Orcas Islands on the west, and Fidalgo, Cypress, Sinclair, and Lummi Islands on the east.
Skagit Bay is a bay and strait located in the U.S. state of Washington. It is part of the Whidbey Island Basin of Puget Sound. The Skagit River empties into Skagit Bay. To the south, Skagit Bay connects with the rest of Puget Sound via Saratoga Passage and Possession Sound. The boundary between Saratoga Passage and Skagit Bay is between Polnell Point on Whidbey Island and Rocky Point on Camano Island. To the northwest, Skagit Bay connects to the Strait of Juan de Fuca via the narrow strait of Deception Pass. A third waterway, the Swinomish Channel, connects Skagit Bay with Padilla Bay to the north.
Port Susan is a bay and strait located in the U.S. state of Washington. Part of the Whidbey Island Basin of Puget Sound, Port Susan is bounded by Camano Island to the west and the mainland to the east. The Stillaguamish River empties into the northern end of Port Susan. To the south, Port Susan connects with the rest of Puget Sound via Possession Sound and Saratoga Passage. A swampy waterway connects the northern end of Port Susan with Skagit Bay. This waterway also separates Camano Island from the mainland.
The Puget Sound region is a coastal area of the Pacific Northwest in the U.S. state of Washington, including Puget Sound, the Puget Sound lowlands, and the surrounding region roughly west of the Cascade Range and east of the Olympic Mountains. It is characterized by a complex array of saltwater bays, islands, and peninsulas carved out by prehistoric glaciers.
Admiralty Inlet Natural Area Preserve in Island County, Washington is part of the Washington Natural Areas Program. It lies along Admiralty Inlet within Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve on land owned by the Whidbey Camano Land Trust with a conservation easement owned by the Washington Department of Natural Resources. Admiralty Inlet NAP is home to one of only 11 remaining populations of golden paintbrush, a flowering plant listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The preserve's 46 acres (19 ha) includes old-growth forest, a rare remnant prairie, and shoreline.
Glacial erratic boulders in Island County are a remnant of the Pleistocene glaciation that created Puget Sound and transformed the surfaces of what are now Island County's main landmasses: Whidbey Island and Camano Island. South of Deception Pass, the two islands' surfaces and beaches are completely composed of glacial till. Abundant glacial erratic boulders lie on the islands, their beaches, and under the near-shore waters.
