Of all the public beach access on Whidbey Island, Washington, Robinson Beach, just outside of Freeland, is to me the best. There are many reasons for this:
- It’s easy to access. No long, winding roads going downhill. It’s a normal road.
- It’s just outside of town. Grab some food in town at Payless (the grocery store) or a latte at Crabby Coffee or Whidbey Coffee, and go have a picnic.
- Great parking. Lots of it.
- It’s a long beach for a county park. The beach is wide.
- Neighbors are mostly chill and are cool with having a public beach near them.
- The beach is nearly all sand. Yes, this can change by the year and storm, but overall, you will have plenty of real sand – a bonus if you have children. Bring the sand buckets and shovels.
- Being in the middle of Mutiny Bay, the beach has really cool drops, and on the ultra low tides, often near the full moons, you can walk out REALLY far. This is a beach where you can find tons of shells and sea animals to ponder. Even tide pools.
- Sunsets are phenomenal here.
The history of the beach is great also – it was given to the county for public use as a donation. And only 9 years ago did it become official.
One side note – the boat ramp has not been in operation since 2019. When Covid came around, the county slacked on ALL upkeep around the islands. This year has been roadwork catchup. Maybe eventually they will restore the ramp? The one bonus of no ramp is the beach is no longer carved in half, with a stream running through it. On the other side of the road is a massive wetland, that purges by the ramp area. With no ramp cut in the sand, the water seems to run underground most times (unless very wet then it can run on top of the sand). This makes easy walking now. No wet feet!
To find the park, drive down Mutiny Bay Road, turn onto Robinson Road (there is a public beach sign on Mutiny Bay Rd pointing). You can park in the huge lot before the beach on the right (in off season it has tons of potholes that become mini lakes, so beware) or park in the long gravel strip along the beach. Parking is free.
Cross the flat beach grass area and walk out to the beach. Pick a path between the driftwood and enjoy.
On the flat area are two benches to rest on as well, to enjoy the views.
Fantastic for children to visit here. Not only all the stuff to see, it’s got great sand for playing in.
And lots of shells as I said…some of which were once crabs. The Seagulls choice if they can!
Looking south-ish. On a cold socked in day. On a very low tide day.
On a misty morning, as the sun burnt the fog layer off. The beach is very long, due to how the tides are here. And because the tide goes out SO FAR, you can walk the beach and be legal. Good firm sand that is easy to walk.
On minus tides, walking the beach North-ish to a private dock is great for tidepools. Just stay below the high tide line, and don’t touch the private shell fish growing operations that are sprinkled along the low tide area.
You can see just how high the water can get here.
Live crab in a tide pool. Though wether it survived is open, as the there are many hungry Seagulls around. Herons are also plentiful, often standing on large rocks in the water looking for fish. Bald Eagles also, they have nests in the large evergreen trees behind the beach.
Moon Snails are abundant on this beach. You will find lots of empty shells and also the egg collars they leave in the sand.
The view is across the water to the last part of Marrowstone Island, the mainland part of the Olympic Peninsula (Chimacum) and the Olympic Mountains. On a clear day it is a very relaxing place to just sit in the warm sand and watch the large cargo ships plying the water as they head out to the Pacific Ocean, or returning to Seattle.
We come to this beach often weekly. It’s a relaxing beach that just welcomes you!
~Sarah