The first
state park in
Washington. Located on the western side of
Chuckanut Mountain, in
Whatcom County and
Skagit County, off of
SR 11/
Chuckanut Drive.
Larrabee was 20 acres of land in
1915, when the property was donated by C.X. Larrabee and Cyrus Gates. It was named in honor of Larrabee in 1923. Today, the park is a little over 2680 acres.
The park has
trails and a
beach. The trails go all over
Chuckanut Mountain, which has nice forests and interesting
fossils. The beach is on
Samish Bay, and you can look across
the Sound and see
Orcas and the other
San Juan Islands.
The best part of the park, however, is not the beaches the park maintains, or the trails or
camping areas. In
Wildcat Cove, part of the park with a beach and a boat launch, there is a high
cliff which can be reached by some of the trails grudgingly allowed to remain in place, though they were not put there by the parks people. The view from the top of the cliff at night is lovely, especially on a clear night when you can see the moon and stars hanging over the still, smooth bay. Of course,
the park closes at dusk..
To get to the cove, drive past the entrance and exit for Larrabee Park on Chuckanut Drive, then turn left on Cove Rd. drive down until you cross the
railroad tracks and park your car to the left. If you park on Chuckanut Drive, you'll get a ticket. Walk south along the railroad tracks for about 1/2-3/4 of a mile. If you get to the tunnelway from the park to the beach, you've gone too far and need to go back 1/4 mile. If you look hard, you'll see a steep trail going west. Follow it as best you can, but don't worry too much. If you keep going west, you'll get there sooner or later.
Wear pants.
When you hit the edge of the cliff, you should stop going west and sit down and enjoy the view. To get back, go east, then
follow the tracks back to your car.