Hi, I'm Eric.

I’m an avid world traveler, photographer, software developer, and digital storyteller.

I help implement the Content Authenticity Initiative at Adobe.

ericscouten.com

Subscribe / Follow · Now

ericscouten.com

Subscribe / Follow · Now

Search Results

101
South Whidbey State Park
101

South Whidbey State Park

north of Freeland, Washington
visited 11 June 2022
Back to parks list

“Walk among the giants,” says the official description of this park. This is definitely a park for forest lovers. I hiked about four miles through its (mostly) well-maintained trails on a damp spring morning.

A wooden step-and-gravel trail descends through a lush, dense evergreen forest thick with bright green ferns, moss-covered trees, and undergrowth at South Whidbey State Park.
A weathered wooden footbridge with railings crosses a narrow gully on a lush forest trail, leading to a dirt path that continues into a dense stand of evergreen trees. Ferns and green undergrowth surround the bridge, with a moss-covered tree trunk on the left.
A narrow dirt trail winds through a lush green Pacific Northwest forest, passing the base of a massive old-growth conifer with deeply furrowed bark. Ferns, mosses, and a dense carpet of low green groundcover cover the forest floor beneath tall evergreen trees.
A narrow dirt trail winds through a dense forest of tall conifers, flanked by lush green sword ferns and undergrowth under an overcast, bright sky.
A narrow, muddy dirt trail winding through a lush green forest thick with ferns, tall grass, and moss-covered tree trunks under a leafy canopy.
A close-up of a large, glossy green leaf covered in scattered water droplets of varying sizes, with visible leaf veins and a blurred background of moss-covered rock and forest floor.

“Do not go beyond this point.” (I didn’t.)

A large MSC container ship laden with cargo containers glides across calm gray water, framed by tall evergreen conifers in the foreground, with low forested hills and an overcast sky in the distance.

I don’t know who painted this checkers board on a tree stump, but I rather love it.

A checkerboard painted in turquoise and left-natural squares on the flat cut surface of a large tree stump, used as game pieces are pine cones and pebbles set on the squares, with two smaller log stumps serving as seats on either side, all surrounded by grass, gravel, and green foliage.

Nature is slowly reclaiming the former campground, which was closed some years ago due to the risk of diseased trees falling on campers.

A moss-covered paved road winds through a dense, lush green forest of tall conifers and leafy deciduous trees, with ferns and undergrowth crowding both sides beneath an overcast sky.

Nature is also reclaiming the last bits of the trail to the beach. With the stairway unusable, I wasn’t quite able to make it all the way down.

A weathered wooden staircase with railings descends through dense green foliage toward a sandy beach along a calm blue waterway, with distant shoreline hills and a partly cloudy sky overhead.
A narrow dirt trail winds through a lush green forest understory dense with horsetails, ferns, and other undergrowth, passing beside a large curving tree with rough bark that splits into two forked trunks.

For more information:

If you’ve enjoyed this …

Subscribe to my free and occasional (never more than weekly) e-mail newsletter with my latest travel and other stories:

Or follow me on one or more of the socials: