Tidal flow can be extremely rough and low tides create standing waves, huge whirlpools and roiling eddies.

Deep, mist-shrouded forests add a touch of mystery to the appearance. courtesy: Island County Historical SocietyĬarved by glaciers, the steep cliffs and sharp edges of the islands create natural barriers and divert tides flowing from the Strait of Juan de Fuca past Whidbey and Fidalgo Islands. Nearly two centuries passed, however, before Deception Pass’s mysteries were revealed to the world.Ī 1930s era steam shovel used to dig the approaches to the Deception Pass Bridge. Juan de Fuca may have been one of the first white explorers to visit the area in the late 1500s and the strait named for him marks his voyage. Shellfish middens are found in all these locations. They hunted, fished and harvested edible native plants like nodding onions. Human history in the park dates back thousands of years when the first people settled in Cornet Bay, Rosario, and Bowman. It links three islands together and interweaves history, recreation, commerce, nature and more. Dramatic and intriguing, the bridge is the Pass’s great connector. About 20,000 cars now cross the bridge 180 feet above its swirling water every day. Some 700 cars traveled on the bridge on July 31, 1935, the day it was dedicated. Pointing at the two promontories of Whidbey and Fidalgo in the 1880s, he told his children that “one day we will have a bridge across this pass with Pass Island as a center support.” Fifty years later, with the persistent work of citizens and legislators, and the public works support of the Great Depression, the bridge became a reality. This great achievement began with an idea from a New England seaman, Captain George Morse, who sailed through the narrow, turbulent waterway called Deception Pass and eventually settled in the tiny village of Oak Harbor on Whidbey Island.

Courtesy: Island County Historical Society Workers and machinery during excavation for the construction of the Deception Pass Bridge.

Accident on deception pass bridge 2021