Anacortes · WA
Campbell Lake, Anacortes: The South End Below Mount Erie
South Fidalgo Island around Campbell Lake.
Where Campbell Lake sits on Fidalgo Island
Campbell Lake is on the south end of Fidalgo Island, off Highway 20 between Sharpes Corner and Deception Pass, with Campbell Lake Road along its north shore and Mount Erie standing 1,273 feet above it to the north. The state's fish and wildlife maps call it Lake Campbell and put it at 390 acres, four miles south of Anacortes and just west of the highway. It is one of the eight named lakes on the island, and Lake Erie sits to the northwest of it, west of Heart Lake Road. This is south of the Anacortes city limits and still very much part of Anacortes life: the address is Anacortes, and the schools are the Anacortes district.
It is the part of the island that feels like country. Lake, forest, mountain, and the highway to Whidbey Island all in one view.
Ask DiAnn about Campbell Lake
Homes around Campbell Lake, Anacortes
The whole area is outside the city, which means county permitting rather than city, and it means every property here gets three questions before the photos: what is the water source, where is the septic, and what is the county zoning. I would rather answer those for a specific property than generalize about them.
The county record explains why. Skagit County has 75 parcels on file under the Campbell Lake name, and they are not one built-out subdivision with a shared era. Build years run from farmhouses dating to 1901 through 1935, on through every decade since, out to brand new 2024 and 2025 construction, with a few manufactured homes and some parcels in farm or agricultural use among them. Lots run from about half an acre to more than eighteen. Most sit outside the city limits on private septic, and many draw from a private well rather than piped water. This is a rural lake community of individual properties, not a neighborhood with an average.
On the parcels I checked, Campbell Lake Road is county short plats from the 1970s through 1990, two and a half to nearly four acres under Skagit County Rural Reserve zoning, on wells and septic, with lake views on several and, on one 1990 short plat, a shared lakefront access tract for its owners. Lake Erie Way has Lake Erie frontage on lots over an acre, on well and septic, and one parcel there straddles the city limit. The Heart Lake Road and Rosario Road corner holds the Lake Erie store on Lake Erie frontage. I have not closed a sale in this area, and I would rather say so than borrow one.
Getting around from Campbell Lake
Highway 20 is the road. North and east, it takes you to Sharpes Corner, where the spur runs up into Anacortes and Commercial Avenue and the main highway continues across the Swinomish Channel to the mainland, Burlington, and I-5. South, it crosses the Deception Pass Bridge to Whidbey Island and Oak Harbor. Heart Lake Road runs north past Lake Erie and Mount Erie Park toward town. The Washington State Ferries terminal is on the far northwest corner of the island.
What is nearby, by name
The state fish and wildlife access on Campbell Lake is on Campbell Lake Road: a concrete ramp, two hand launches, a boarding float, and a restroom, open year-round, with no camping. The Skagit County Sheriff lists Campbell Lake at a 40 mile an hour speed limit with state boating rules in force, and the lake is used for boating, skiing, and fishing. Lake Erie has its own state access with a boat launch on its west side, and the same 40 mile an hour limit. Mount Erie Park, 160 city-owned acres, has a single-lane paved road to the summit, the highest point on Fidalgo Island, where on a clear day you can see Mount Baker and Mount Rainier. Deception Pass State Park, spanning Fidalgo and Whidbey islands, with Rosario Beach, Bowman Bay, West Beach, and its own Cranberry Lake, begins just down the highway. Fidalgo Elementary, on Gibralter Road at the south end, is the closest of the district's three elementary schools, and that is a location, not a promise: The Anacortes School District serves the city, and it is a non-boundary district: the district itself assigns each elementary student to Fidalgo, Island View, or Mount Erie on class size, sibling placement, parent preference, and transportation, not on street address, and sends the assignment by email in the summer. Anacortes Middle School, Anacortes High School, and Cap Sante High School serve the whole city, so no address on this page comes with a guaranteed elementary school, and I do not pretend otherwise.
The honest trade-off, and how I work it
You are outside the city, and everything that comes with that is the trade: no walking to town, county rules, and the highway as your main street. What you get is the lake, the mountain, and land. Compared with Whistle Lake to the north, Campbell Lake is farther out and entirely in the county; compared with Biz Point to the west, it is fresh water and forest instead of salt water and bluff.
Selling rural and lake property is a different job than selling a house on the grid: the well log, the septic record, the survey, and the shoreline rules get answered before the first photo, because the right buyer will ask. That is selling your home with me, starting from the free EPIC™ Home-Selling Report. Buyers, start with buying a home, or investment property if a lake place is a second home with a plan, and see my current listings. Neighbor pages: Whistle Lake and Biz Point. DiAnn Sager, RE/MAX Gateway, Anacortes. Ask me about Campbell Lake.
By the road from Campbell Lake
By the road from the middle of Campbell Lake, it is 6.1 miles to the Anacortes ferry terminal, 7.4 to 10th and Commercial, 16 to the Burlington I-5 exit, 40 to downtown Bellingham. These are road miles from OpenStreetMap routing, measured September 2026, by road and not by ferry.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Campbell Lake inside the City of Anacortes?
No. The Campbell Lake area is outside the city limits on south Fidalgo Island, with an Anacortes address and Anacortes schools. That means county permitting, and water source and septic are property-by-property questions I confirm before an offer.
Is there public access to Campbell Lake?
Yes. The state fish and wildlife access area on Campbell Lake Road has a concrete ramp, two hand launches, a boarding float, and a restroom, open year-round. Lake Erie next door has its own state access and launch on its west side. The county lists both lakes at a 40 mile an hour speed limit under state boating rules.
How far is Campbell Lake from downtown Anacortes?
The state puts the lake four miles south of Anacortes. Highway 20 runs north to Sharpes Corner, and the spur takes you up Commercial Avenue into downtown. It is a drive, not a walk.
Buying in Campbell Lake
Selling in Campbell Lake
The method
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