We hiked here on a beautiful, mild winter day that also happened to be New Years Day. Before our hike, we had stopped for coffee and breakfast at the Cedar & Salt Coffee House in Coupeville, which was about the only place open on the island on New Years Day. They make a great breakfast burrito.

We hiked the Bluff Trail all the way to the group camp (closed). The views from the Bluff Trail are amazing. From the group camp, we picked up the Cedar Hollow Trail and then the Kettles Trail, all through quiet woods. We found the water tower and then followed the road back to the parking lot. We did a side hike to Lake Pondilla. We dropped down and explored the beach. Altogether we hiked 5 miles. There's a great variety of terrain: bluff, forest, and beach, plus a beautiful little lake.

The geology here is amazing with the kettles and the bluffs marking the advance and retreat of the ice sheet.

This was only my third time hiking on Whidbey Island and in Fort Ebey State Park. Somehow, I'd missed the memo on the great trail system that's in/adjacent to the park till just now!

Yesterday, in my customary digging on this website, I came across the Kettles Trail system, so Edelman and I took a jaunt over to Whidbey today to check it out. We followed the directions for the Kettles TH, which meant parking pretty far into Fort Ebey State Park. There was a kiosk with a map there (there are other kiosks around the park), as well as a very clean , stocked outhouse. We were the only car at 10:30 when we arrived.

We decided to take the bluff trail first (towards Fort Ebey), as we wanted to take advantage of the sun. The bluff trail has fantastic views out to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and down to the beach below. There were great views of the San Juan Islands, shipping lanes and the Olympics. We followed the trail past the old fort/gun emplacement area and down to a beach access. Here, we walked for a short distance along the beach, before taking lunch beneath the bluff and directly under a bald eagle (see pic), who seemed rooted to his perch on a snag.

After lunch, we retraced our steps along the Bluff Trail to the parking area, where we decided to tack on another mile or so. The Kettles Trail system is adjacent to the park, and has a whole network of interchanging paths, all signed. One could walk all the way to Coupeville, have lunch, and hike back for a fun day, or just wander around the network like a wood nymph. The trails are all dirt, in the woods, gentle ups and downs, well drained (not muddy). According to the WTA description, part of the Kettles is paved, but I suspect that doesn't happen till you get nearer to Coupeville. Anyway, Edelman and I hiked south from the parking lot on our second foray, following the Cedar Hollow path to the Kettles trail, then picking up the Hokey-Ka-Dodo trail to make a little loop. All in all, we probably hiked about 5+ miles, but one could hike much further than that. The network is 35 miles of trails. Here's a link to the map of the area, which was very helpful: https://www.nps.gov/ebla/planyourvisit/upload/050514-Trails-Map.pdf

We passed 9 people today, 5 of them on the beach. The bluff trail is beautiful, a perfect Northwesty place to take out-of-towners, while the Kettles system is solitudinous, woodsy, a bit dark this time of year, but also Northwest-coast- forest-typical. Happy and safe hiking, y'all!

Very enjoyable weekend getaway, exploring central/south Whidbey, based out of Fort Ebey campground

Fort Ebey State Park:

• Really nice campground, small compared to it's much larger brother north at Deception Pass
• Nice private sites, and great for families
• Bluff provides great sunsets
• Beach is quick drive, or 15-25min walk, down at Partridge Point 
  • No partridges spotted sadly
• Beach walking is great northward, little more bouldery southward
• Barely scratched the surface of the Fort Ebey / Kettles complex of trails ( walking and mtn biking )

Ebey's Landing:

• Bluff trail is stunning for it's sea views, and views down to Perego's Lake
• Return via beach
• Will do again
• Kudos to the Nature Conservancy, State Parks, et. al., for preserving this gem

Fort Casey:

• Giant playground for kids and adults alike on the old batteries
• Nicely done interpretive signs throughout highlight the history
• Great views directly down to the Port Townsend ferry, and the Keystone Spit ( fun scuba diving btw )
• Beach Access at SW corner, and W central

South Whidbey State Park:

• Nice forest walking through this small park
• Campground appears abandoned ( at least this year )
• Beach access currently closed due to stair damage

Pro Tips:

• Good ice-cream, at Kapaw's Iskreme, in historic Coupeville
• If closed, Caio Food & Wine has Gelato, up the hill on Main St.
• If you want to see Orcas, keep an eye open when you notice the Whale Watching boats stopped :)

Lots more parks we simply didn't have time to explore.

Went at 8pm to see 8:30 sunset. It was glorious. Small parking lot at trailhead, but available spots at this time of day. Trail is sandy, a few plants overhang in places, but not making walking difficult.

A nice park that offers nice views and has some history.

If you plan to go into the gun battery, I suggest you bring a flashlight that is better than the one on your phone.

Cell phone signals are weak at best.