Sharpe Park

We recently discovered Sharpe Park on Fidalgo Island south of Anacortes.  It is a county park and completely undeveloped, though there is development on both sides.  It is 110 acres and includes 2-3 miles of trails that take one out to the bluffs above the Salish Sea and to some incredible views from Sares Head.  The park includes also a wetlands that is home to a family of beavers and a good place for birding.

We made several visits to Sharpe Park recently, the first to explore the park and the second to see the Fairy Slippers and other wildflowers that were blooming there.  We intend to check out the park over the late spring and summer months to look for other native orchids there, but the park is convenient to two other favorite locations, Washington Park and Deception Pass, all of which can be visited in a day.

The Wetland Area

A Pacific Tree Frog we found near the wetlands

The woods

(I'm always trying to capture what the northwest forests are like but seldom succeed).

The Pacific Madrones

(this park has some of the most beautiful old Madrone trees I've ever seen).

Sares Head and the Bluffs

The Fairy Slippers we found blooming in the park

The other wildflowers

(Oregon Fawn Lilies, Red-flowering Currant and Dwarf Oregon-grape)

And a few odds and ends

(Horsetails and a mushroom)

Pacific Tree Frog - Pseudacris regilla

Horsetail - Equisetum telmatie

Dwarf Oregon-grape - Mahonia nervosa

Red-flowering Currant - Ribes sanguineum

Oregon Fawn Lily - Erythronium oregonum

Western Fairy Slipper - Calypso bulbosa var. occidentalis

Pacific Madrone - Arbutus menziesii