The Deception Pass Marathon & Half explores the coastal trails around the famous Deception Pass Bridge on the North end of Whidbey Island.
Reviews of Deception Pass State Park
28 people have reviewed this location
Ratings Summary
Cell Coverage
Verizon 4G/5G
Confirmed by 12 users | Last reported on December 20, 2023AT&T 4G
Confirmed by 10 users | Last reported on September 26, 2022T-Mobile 4G/5G
Confirmed by 4 users | Last reported on March 10, 2024This place is absolutely worth the noise of the jets flying over from the nearby airbase. It's beautiful! Hiking trails, driftwood forts on the beach, kayking (rentals available during the summer). We loved our time here!
While the reservation system is not ideal, and there are different types of sites with variable rates, we managed to figure it out. We pulled in after hours and picked an available spot for the night, but then after talking to the ranger we moved spots the next morning for the whole weekend (4 more nights).
I feel like we had the best spot in the campground!
Boosted we have 5 bars of Verizon LTE.
Nightly Rate: $35.00
Days Stayed: 5
Site Number: 60
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
I stayed in the Lower Forest Loop, way up at the Northern tip of the main campground. From there a "fair" 3G Verizon signal can be had. We used a booster to squeak in a 4G signal. The further up the hill (north) the better, but risky no matter where you stay in the park.
The park itself was nice, clean, and had a lot to do around. Both of the beaches were easy to get too down nice trails. A short drive will bring you out to numerous other great hikes. If you have kayaks, then the shoreline out of Bowman Bay is spectacular (careful of the currents near the bridge).
The only real problem is the planes flying overhead. Hey, I'm a guy... I love me some military toys and all, but even I have a limit. At least they flew during daylight hours for my visit, but all day each day right over my head with full throttle blasting down on me was enough for me to NOT recommend this park... almost. The park is worth visiting and seeing the sights, but plan for a quick two or three day trip (weekdays are no where near full) and you will keep your sanity.
Nightly Rate: $30.00
Days Stayed: 6
Site Number: -
Cell Coverage Rating
AT&T 4G
Deception Pass is exceptionally beautiful and the beaches here are amazing. From the campground you can walk to the shore and to the bridge to get stunning views of the pass. The campground itself is just OK. It would benefit from taking some of the sites out, because you are really crammed in here like sardines. Some big rigs will have trouble navigating around here for sure. We squeezed through the trees in the lower loop and fortunately had a pull through spot.
A few of the other reviews have mentioned the noise, and to be fair they do warn you about it. We are pretty immune to noise, having been city dwellers who lived next to a busy train line, but believe me they are not kidding about this noise. We had to pause movies and halt conversations many times here because the sound of the nearby jets are deafening. Still it is intermittent and as long as you are prepared for it, the location of the park makes up for it.
My main problem with this place - and the Washington State Park system - is that they have all these extra charges - a non-resident fee, an online booking fee. Their fees are pretty complicated with 3 types of sites, hook-ups and no hook-ups, a different fee if you book on line or by phone etc etc. It's kind of annoying to feel so nickel and dimed. For a location like this I don't specifically mind the expense but they charge these at even their mediocre parks.
Nightly Rate: $30.00
Days Stayed: 5
Site Number: 225
We absolutely love Deception Pass. As WA natives we have an affinity for this area. We didn't quite know how well our 40ft trailer would handle going through the loop and backing in, but we lucked out and just kept it straight back after wrapping around a bend. A shorter trailer backed into a tree or a rock in a more complicated spot. Take the driveway lengths literally and pad it a little.
Great trails around the area and overall a very fun place to drive down to the beach or lake with the family in tow.
The fire-rings are decent and access to the pedestal and water was no problem.
WA state parks require you to use their tokens for showers so take care of that when you check in across the street.
Nightly Rate: $34.00
Days Stayed: 5
Site Number: -
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
We love this state park and we love Whidbey Island! Before our RV adventures we used to call this island home. Deception Pass is one of our very favorite state parks. Reason for 3 stars instead of 5?! We give it 3 stars due to the planes and the noise (at some point during the night we might have given it a 1 or 2 due to the planes).
The park itself is beautiful and the sites are nice (ours had water views). Although no fault of the park, the planes are an issue. In fact, after listening to them for hours yesterday, we canceled our upcoming reservation for another four days at this park. Then we walked on the beach and started regretting the decision, then when the planes made it impossible to sleep until midnight, we were thankful we canceled. We will visit the park again, but probably not stay overnight.
Cell reception:
AT&T - 2 bars LTE - 5.5 Mb down and 2.8 Mb up
T-Mobile - 2 bars LTE - 13 Mb down and 5 Mb up
Verizon - 2 bars LTE, but only 1.18 Mb down and .17 Mb up
Update: January 2018 - We have visited this park many times since we posted this review. Once overnight and many times during the day. Currently, only one campground area is open during the "winter season." The plane noise varies greatly. The last two visits we experienced ZERO planes while we were there. However, other visits the noise was just horrible! There is no way you can hold a conversation or sleep during these times. I think sometimes people come and experience very little (or no) planes and others come on high traffic days, hence the various different reviews about this beautiful state park,
Nightly Rate: $30.00
Days Stayed: 1
Site Number: 117
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
AT&T 4G
T-Mobile 4G
Simply amazing. I would suggest the Old Forest Loop. It can handle up to 42 fool class A's. Old growth Sprue, cedar, and Douglas Fir. Private camping with water and electric.
First Time I camped here was in 1982, Still about the same.
The only downfall would be Jet Noise.
Nightly Rate: $40.00
Days Stayed: 2
Site Number: 19
Cell Coverage Rating
AT&T 4G
This is our go to campground for an easy get away.
Nightly Rate: $40.00
Days Stayed: 3
Site Number: 43
Cell Coverage Rating
AT&T 4G
It’s so sad that such an incredibly beautiful spot is so incredibly ruined by the fighter jets and other aircraft coming from the Naval air station just down the beach. There is a warning on the state parks reservation site about it. I thought, “how bad could it be“? Well it was quite bad. There would be some times where they would stop and you would be able to enjoy some peace and quiet but then they start again and wouldn’t finish their training runs until 9 PM.
Nightly Rate: $25.00
Days Stayed: 1
Site Number: -
This is a beautiful location that I once camped at years ago. I’ve spent the last two days with my family and it has been horrible. At times the planes flew so close it seemed like they were touching the treetops. The sound is unbelievably loud!
I am writing this at 11:30pm on a Thursday night and I can’t sleep because of the sound.
Do Not Camp Here!
Nightly Rate: $1.00
Days Stayed: 2
Site Number: #2
Cell Coverage Rating
AT&T 4G
A last minute change of plans landed us here for the night (we were trying to avoid the heat wave inland). We stayed in the non-electric section. The space was a pull through and the site was rather large. We enjoyed walking down to the beach to watch the sunset. We didn't have any of the plane noise that others complained about- guess we were lucky?
Cell service was fine on AT&T
Nightly Rate: -
Days Stayed: 1
Site Number: -
Cell Coverage Rating
AT&T 4G
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Deception Pass State Park
Hours
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Parking
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Pets Allowed
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Restrooms
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Wifi
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Wheelchair Accessible
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Credit Cards Accepted
- Affiliation
- State park or forest
- Back In RV Sites Count
- 14
- Last Nightly Rate
- 35.0
- Longest Vehicle Length Reported
- 40.0
- Lowest Nightly Rate
- 1.0
- Max Length
- 50ft
- Max Stay
- 10
- Pull Through RV Sites Count
- 50
- Sites Count
- 143
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Paved Sites
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Fifty Amp
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Full Hookup
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Pull Through
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Tent Sites
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Dump Station
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Big Rigs
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Open Seasonally
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Age Restricted
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Back In RV Sites
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Boondock
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Cabin Sites
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Dispersed Sites
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Firewood
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Fulltime Residents
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Group Tent Sites
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Laundry
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Mobile Homes
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Permit Required
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Potable Water
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Propane
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Public Water
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Pull Through RV Sites
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Reservations
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Sewer Hookup
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Showers
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Sites
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Standard Tent Sites
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Vehicle Wash Permitted
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Water Hookup
Campground, Restrooms
Nearby Hotels
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