Snip! Barnum Point is Now Ready for Visitors!

Pat Powell, center, executive director of the Whidbey Camano Land Trust, cuts the ribbon to formally mark the opening of Barnum Point County Park on August 21, 2019. She is assisted by Kalee Cottingham, left, director of the Washington Recreation & Conservation Office, and Island County Commissioner Janet St. Clair. Barnum Point County Park offers a full mile of beach and 2.5 miles of groomed, upland trails.

Go enjoy what you helped to protect

The scissors used to cut the ribbon were giant-sized, which was fitting. What better way to symbolize a project the magnitude of Barnum Point County Park?

“What happened here at Barnum Point took a community,” Pat Powell, the executive director of the Whidbey Camano Land Trust, told the small gathering at the park on August 21. “It took all of you, everyone, to make this happen.”

The scissors sliced through the royal blue ribbon to formally recognize the opening of Camano Island’s incredible new county park. The ceremony took place at the recently completed trailhead that leads visitors into the park from the new parking lot, Island County’s final steps in readying the expanded park for public enjoyment.

The parking lot has ample room for school buses. It’s located on a former holly farm, the most recent land acquired during a three-year successful partnership between the Land Trust, Island County, state and federal granting agencies, and you, our incredible members.

With leadership from the Land Trust, Barnum Point County Park grew from just 27 acres in 2015 to its current 167 acres today, including a full mile of beach and 2.5 miles of groomed, upland trails that meander through forest and meadow.

“Barnum Point represents a triumph in public-private partnership,” said Janet St. Clair, District Three Island County Commissioner. “We have worked together to preserve a rare stretch of unblemished shoreline and upland forest for future generations to enjoy.”

Kaleen Cottingham, director of the Washington Recreation and Conservation Office, whose agency provided millions of dollars of grant funding for the project, attended the ceremony and joined Powell and St. Clair in the ribbon cutting.

Also in attendance were representatives from Island County, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition, and Washington Association of Land Trusts.

Funding for Barnum Point County Park came from Island County, Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program, Washington Salmon Recovery Funding Board, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Washington Department of Ecology. To start off the successful fundraising campaign, more than 600 private donors responded.

Now that the trailhead and more spacious parking lot is complete, it is a great time to visit Camano Island and enjoy this amazing new shoreline park.

Read more about Barnum Point County Park.

Barnum Point County Park Trail Map