Island County, Washington

Whidbey Island (historical spellings Whidby, Whitbey, or Whitby) is the largest of the islands composing Island County, Washington, in the United States, and the largest island in Washington state. 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. The state parks and natural forests are home to numerous old growth trees. According to the 2000 census, Whidbey Island was home to 67,000 residents with an estimated 29,000 of those living in rural locations. This increased slightly to 69,480 residents as of the 2010 census.Whidbey Island is approximately 37 miles (60 km) from north to south, and 1.5 to 10 miles (2.4 to 16.1 km) wide, with a total land area of 168.67 square miles (436.9 km2), making it the 40th largest island in the United States. It is ranked as the fourth longest and fourth largest island in the contiguous United States, behind Long Island, New York; Padre Island, Texas (the world's longest barrier island); and Isle Royale, Michigan. In the state of Washington, it is the largest island, followed by Orcas Island.

Lake Hancock is a 200-acre (81 ha) coastal lagoon (and estuary) and former lake on Whidbey Island in the U.S. state of Washington. The elevation reported by United States Geological Survey is 3 feet (0.91 m). According to some conservationists, it is "the most well preserved estuary on the island". It was a U.S. Navy bombing range between 1943 and 1971, and legally is part of Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. The lake is in Greenbank, Washington about halfway down the length of 55-mile long Whidbey Island and nearly bisects it; the lake has contacted Admiralty Inlet on the island's west side since 1934, and from the east shore of the lake to Saratoga Passage on the east shore of the island near Greenbank Farm is less than one mile. Washington State Route 525 runs about 500 feet (150 m) from the lake's eastern shore, down the narrow strip between the two bodies of water.The area is designated by Washington State Department of Ecology as the "Lake Hancock Munitions Response Site". In 2006, 120 tons of contaminated material including creosote coated logs was removed by helicopter from the lake. The Navy held public hearings in 2016 to determine if further cleanup of unexploded material should be undertaken.

Saratoga Passage lies in Puget Sound between Whidbey Island and Camano Island. Saratoga Passage extends about 18 miles in a northwesterly direction from its entrance between Sandy Point on the Whidbey Island side and Camano Head on the other. At its northern end, Saratoga Passage connects with Penn Cove and Crescent Harbor, and leads east into Skagit Bay. Depths in the passage are from about 600 feet at the southeastern entrance to about 90 feet near Crescent Harbor. Langley, Washington is the only city on either island located on the passage. Most of the waterfront on either side is high bank of forested sand and clay banks. There are four low bank communities on the Whidbey Island side of the passage: Sandy Point, Langley, Bells Beach and Fox Spit. The beaches are gravel and sand and the tide generally runs out a good distance. There is considerable maritime traffic in these waters, mostly recreational and fishing boats, with occasional tugs bound to or from Deception Pass or the Swinomish Channel. High-speed passenger ferries running between Seattle, Victoria and Friday Harbor use Saratoga Passage and Deception Pass as an alternative to crossing the Strait of Juan de Fuca in rough weather. This area is generally considered a resort area. Dungeness crab, clams and flatfish are abundant. In the past, strong salmon runs passed through on the way to the rivers on the mainland, but they have all but disappeared as have the once plentiful bait of candlefish and herring. Most of the fishing in southern end of Whidbey Island takes place on the western side, in Possession Sound, Mutiny Bay, or Double Bluff. Saratoga Passage was named by Charles Wilkes, during the Wilkes Expedition of 1838–1842, for the Saratoga, the flagship of Thomas MacDonough during the Battle of Lake Champlain of the War of 1812. Wilkes had named Camano Island MacDonough Island, to honor the naval commander, but that name was removed when Henry Kellett reorganized the official British Admiralty charts in 1847. Wilkes' name MacDonough was changed to Camano to honor the Spanish explorer Jacinto Caamaño. Wilkes' name Saratoga Passage was retained. George Vancouver had previously, in 1792, named Saratoga Passage "Port Gardner", in honor of Vice-Admiral Sir Alan Gardner. Today the name Port Gardner survives as the bay and harbor of Everett. Port Susan, the water east of Camano Island, also given by Vancouver, survives and honors Lady Gardner, Sir Alan's wife.

Keystone is a small unincorporated community on Whidbey Island in Island County, Washington, in the northwestern United States. It is near the Keystone ferry landing, a dock at Keystone Harbor for the Washington State Ferries' Coupeville to Port Townsend route. The route provides a maritime link for State Route 20 across Admiralty Inlet to the Olympic Peninsula. Since its establishment in the 1930s, the ferry route to Port Townsend was known as the Keystone-Port Townsend Ferry; the name was changed in 2010 at the suggestion of the Central Whidbey Chamber of Commerce in order to avoid confusion from tourists and visitors to Whidbey Island.Keystone is located about four miles south of Coupeville, next to Fort Casey State Park, Camp Casey, and is two miles from Ebey's Prairie National Historic Preserve. There is a residential area and farms in Keystone, including the historic Crockett Barn located next to the Crockett Blockhouse and Crockett Lake. Currently, the only business in Keystone is Callen's Restaurant, located directly across Highway 20 from the ferry landing and boat launch parking area.

Greenbank is an unincorporated community on Whidbey Island in Island County, Washington, United States. Greenbank, which was named by Calvin Philips after his homestead in Delaware, has a population around 1626. It is the location of the Greenbank Farm, once the largest loganberry farm in the world, and the Greenbank Store, which was once owned and run by the Coupe family, descendants of Captain Thomas Coupe, founder of Coupeville and is now owned and run by new owners unrelated to the Coupe family. Opening in 1904, Greenbank Store features access to the post office and a small grocery store, as well as other amenities. Greenbank Farm, once the largest loganberry farm in the country, now has fields of trails and an off-leash dog area. The farm was saved from development when the Port of Coupeville agreed to purchase the 151-acre property and take on a 20-year bond payment in 1997. The purchase was completed in 2017 and continues to be operated by the Port of Coupeville. Greenbank Farm with its large historic, “Whidbey 1904 Barn” is a popular venue for weddings, social gatherings and seasonal markets. The Shops at Greenbank Farm, independent tenants of the Port of Coupeville, are located here as well. Behind the barns at the Greenbank Farm is a small marsh with a viewing platform recently built by the Whidbey Audubon Society. Many species of birds can be observed here including Red Wing Black-Birds and Warblers. Several solar projects have been implemented to reduce impact on the environment as well as offer free EV charging for all visitors. Greenbank is served by State Route 525, on which several places to stay and other businesses are located.

Naval Outlying Landing Field Coupeville—or NOLF Coupeville—(ICAO: KNRA, FAA LID: NRA) is a military airport located two miles (3 km) southeast of Coupeville, Washington, in Island County. The airfield is owned and operated by the United States Navy. NOLF Coupeville nearly touches State Route 20 and is about 10 miles south of the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station.

Cama Beach State Park is a public recreation area facing Saratoga Passage on the southwest shore of Camano Island in Island County, Washington. The state park preserves the site of a renovated, modernized 1930s-era auto court and fishing resort.

Meerkerk Rhododendron Gardens (53 acres) are nonprofit gardens located at 3531 Meerkerk Lane, Greenbank, Washington. They are open daily; admission is $5.00 The gardens were founded by Ann and Max Meerkerk in the early 1960s on 13 acres (53,000 m2), and served as a site where they collected and hybridized rhododendrons. They gradually expanded the garden to 10 acres (40,000 m2) of rhododendrons surrounded by an additional 43 acres (170,000 m2) of woodlands. Ann Meerkerk left the gardens to the Seattle Rhododendron Society in 1979. Today the garden features more than 1,500 varieties of rhododendron species and hybrids.

Baby Island Heights is a small unincorporated community in Island County, Washington, United States. It is named after a small island offshore of the community commonly known as Baby Island. Most of the community is medium- to high-bank waterfront as it stretches along the shoreline of the Saratoga Passage.

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 (Snohomish County) 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. The island has a total area of 39.77 square miles (103.0 km2), making it one of the largest in the state of Washington. It has a year-round population of 15,661 as of the 2010 census. The population peaks at over 17,000 during the summer months due to part-time residents with vacation homes on the island. It is an unincorporated area with several small communities and shares civic facilities with nearby Stanwood, including its school district, and post office. Camano Island is home to two state parks, Cama Beach and Camano Island State Park, and several county and local parks.

Camano Island State Park is a publicly owned recreation area on Camano Island in Puget Sound located 14 miles (23 km) southwest of Stanwood in Island County, Washington, United States. The park occupies 173 acres (70 ha) and has 6,700 feet (2,000 m) of shoreline. It is managed by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission.

Crockett Lake is a lake in Island County, Washington at an elevation of 0 feet (0 m).The Crockett family homesteaded the site in the 1850s, and gave the lake their name.