BAY VIEW STATE PARK
Bay View State Park is a 25-acre camping park with 1,285 feet of saltwater shoreline on Padilla Bay. Over 11,000 acres of Padilla Bay are designated as National Estuarine Sanctuary. Breazeale Padilla Bay Interpretive Center is located a half mile north of the park. The park offers views of the San Juan Islands fronting Padilla Bay, one of 15 existing national marine estuaries. On clear days, park users see the Olympic Mountains to the west and Mt. Rainier to the south.
Summer: 8 a.m. to dusk.Winter: 8 a.m. to dusk.
The park is open year-round for camping and day use. Some campsites are closed in winter.
Camping:Check-in time, 2:30 p.m.Check-out time, 1 p.m.Quiet hours: 10 p.m. to 6:30 a.m.
Bay View State Park was the home of Pat-Teh-Us, a Noo-Wha-Ah Indian chief and signer of the Point Elliot Treaty. The town was named by William J. Mckenna, who plotted the original townsite in 1884. The original portion of the park was donated to the state in 1925 by the Skagit County Agricultural Association with the understanding that it would become a state park. Additional parcels were acquired up until 1968. The park site, formerly a baseball field and racetrack, derives its name from the community of Bay View.
The park has 46 tent spaces, 29 utility spaces, four cabins, one dump station, one restroom and two showers. Maximum site length is 60 feet (may have limited availability). The campground is divided into three areas.
Sites T1 to T9 (the view sites) provide the best opportunity to view Padilla Bay and are also utility sites. Site length is approximately 60 feet, and all sites are back-ins.
Sites T10 to T30 (the utility sites) face a 1.5-acre grassy section, which provides space for kids to play safely and for parents to keep an eye on them. Site length varies, with 40 feet the maximum length. All sites are back-ins.
Sites 31 to 76 (the standard campsites) provide a parking place, stove, picnic table and space to pitch a tent. Tent size and vehicle parking lengths vary from 25 to 40 feet. Only a few of the sites can accommodate a large tent. All sites are back-ins.
Group Accommodations:
The park provides one group camp for tents only. The camp accommodates 20 to 64 people. There is no space for RVs. Showers and restrooms are nearby. Fees vary with size of the group
The park is on Padilla Bay with a public watercraft launch three blocks from the park. Be advised Padilla Bay is heavily influenced by tidal action. The bay becomes a large mud flat during low tides.
Skagit County Parks provides a boat launch eight miles west of the park, just off Hwy. 20 under the Swinomish Channel. The launch is useable under various tide conditions.