If you have lived on Camano for more than a season or two, you already know the island runs on rhythms rather than schedules. What has shifted this year is where those rhythms center. With the historic cabins at Cama Beach now permanently closed, the summer weight of the island has moved off overnight lodging and back onto the standing weekly programs, the working farm, and a handful of community weekends that residents built long before the state parks became a destination. The result is a summer that belongs more to the people who live here than it has in years.
This is a guide to the recurring beats and the anchor dates worth putting on the calendar between now and Labor Day.
The Cama Beach Shift Nobody Quite Explained
The clearest change to the island's summer landscape has been quiet. In October 2024 the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission voted to keep the 1930s waterfront cabins at Cama Beach Historical State Park closed permanently, after septic and infrastructure failures pulled them offline in February 2024. Long-term planning for the park's future is running through 2026, and shuttle service remains suspended. What that means for residents is straightforward. Cama Beach is now a day-use park with a working café, an active boat program, and the same view of Saratoga Passage it has always had.
The Cama Beach Cafe is open daily from mid-June through Labor Day, then weekends only through the off-season. The Cama Center and restrooms in the upper park stay open. The historic store is closed while the planning process continues. If your relationship with Cama has always been about weekend cabin guests coming up from Seattle, this summer is a chance to reintroduce yourself to the park on your own terms.
Saturdays Have A Schedule
The most useful thing to know about summer on Camano is that Saturdays are structured. Both state parks run standing programs from mid-June through Labor Day, and they overlap in a way that lets a family or a pair of grandparents fill a full day without leaving the west side of the island.
| When | Where | What |
|---|---|---|
| Saturdays, 11 a.m.–3 p.m., through Sept 26 | North Beach, Cama Beach | Toy Boat Building with the Center for Wooden Boats, free with a suggested $5 donation |
| Saturdays through summer | Camano Island State Park amphitheater | Interpretive talks ranging from Puget Sound whales to salmon habitat, plus guided shore and forest walks |
| Last Saturday of the month, May–September, 9 a.m.–2 p.m. | South Camano Grange, 2227 S. Camano Drive | Camano Farmers Market |
| Fridays, June 5–September 18, 2–6 p.m. | 8727 271st St NW, Stanwood | Stanwood Farmers Market |
The Camano market is the neighborhood one. It runs only on the last Saturday of each month, which makes it easy to miss and worth building a morning around when it lands. The Friday market in Stanwood is the workhorse if you want a weekly stop for produce, and it stays open later into the evening light. The two markets are run by overlapping vendors and volunteers, so shopping both is less redundant than it sounds.
Kristoferson Is Not Just A Zipline
Most residents know Kristoferson Farm as the place off East Camano Drive with the big red barn and the ziplines. Fewer treat it as a working farm stand and event venue on a monthly cadence, which is what it has quietly become.
The farm's 2026 pop-up market schedule brings vendors to the farm stand on July 11, August 22, and September 5, all from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. A lavender crafting workshop runs July 11–12, timed to the tail of the French lavender bloom, when the Grosso field is at peak. The farm stand itself carries fresh bread, local cheeses, dried beans, lavender products, and produce from the fields, and it is open through the summer independent of the pop-up dates. If you have out-of-town family visiting and want a stop that reads as authentically Camano without needing a reservation, this is that stop.
Canopy Tours Northwest, the six-zipline course on the same property, opened its 2026 season in April and runs through fall. The course covers six ziplines, a log suspension bridge, and a 47-foot final rappel, with a mid-tour rest that includes lavender lemonade from the farm. This season the guides trained on regenerative-tourism principles, which in practice means more time spent on the forest itself and less on the adrenaline. Locals with visiting adult kids or teenage grandchildren who have already done the tour once may find the newer format worth a second trip.
The farm is stewarded under a Forest Stewardship Plan developed with Washington State University, and conservation easements signed with the Whidbey Camano Land Trust in 2023 protect the forest and farmland in perpetuity. That is the reason the trees you fly through are the size they are.
The Four Weekends To Block Off
Beyond the weekly cadence, the summer has four weekends that consistently draw the largest resident turnout. If you are coordinating houseguests, or trying to decide which Saturday to keep clear, these are the ones.
July 18–19: Bloomfest Lavender Festival. The event has grown steadily since its debut, moving from a one-day farm gathering to a two-day festival with dozens of vendors. Held at Our Legacy Fields in Stanwood, it is free to attend, and the farm stays open Wednesday through Sunday for the rest of the season if you miss the weekend itself.
August 9 and September 5: Free Discover Pass Days. Two Sundays when the state parks waive the day-use fee. For anyone who has been meaning to walk the Marine View Loop or the Bluff Trail at Cama, these are the low-friction days to bring a neighbor who doesn't have a pass.
August 15: Let 'Er Ride Car Show Fundraiser. A community fundraiser that draws a wide cross-section of the island. Details evolve year to year, but the format is the one you know from previous summers.
August 22: Bite of Stanwood Camano. The food-focused event of the summer, and the one that pulls the highest number of Camano and Stanwood residents into the same place at the same time. Kristoferson Farm's pop-up market falls on the same day, which makes for a natural loop if you are willing to plan the drive.
Two Trail Notes Worth Knowing
Trail conditions on the west side have shifted this year, and both matter if you walk regularly.
The Canyon Trail at Camano Island State Park is closed indefinitely following a slide. The north staircase down to the beach in the North Beach Day Use Area is temporarily closed as well, though the beach itself remains accessible via the south trail. If you have been out of the loop and were planning to take a summer guest down the north stairs, plan a different route.
At Cama Beach, a January 2026 advisory closed the lower part of the park including road and trail access to the beach due to safety concerns. Check the park's status page before heading down. The upper trails, the Marine View Loop, and the viewing platforms toward Saratoga Passage remain the most reliable coastal walks on the west side while the lower access is worked out.
Where To End The Day
The island still has a limited number of places to close out a summer evening, which for residents is a feature rather than a problem. The Camano Chamber of Commerce lists the working landmarks worth knowing: Camano Plaza IGA, Elger Bay Food Mart, Huntington's Corner Grocery, the Camano Center, and Camano Commons Marketplace at 848 N Sunrise Blvd, which houses Camano Island Coffee Roasters. The Cama Beach Cafe, mentioned earlier, handles the daytime end of the west side. For an evening walk, the viewing platforms on the Marine View Loop face west and hold the sunset light longer than most people realize.
None of this is a comprehensive list. Camano rewards the resident who builds a personal one over years.
A Note From The Author
Camano's character comes from the people who have chosen to live here through more than one summer. The rhythms above are only useful because residents kept showing up to the farmers market, the amphitheater program, and the toy boat workshop long enough for them to become permanent fixtures. If you are thinking about the next stage of your life on the island, whether that involves right-sizing to a smaller waterfront place, exploring what your acreage is worth in the current market, or simply understanding how the west side is changing, Camano Island Waterfront is here for the long conversation as much as the transaction. Book a private consultation and valuation when the time feels right.
