Anacortes · WA
Whistle Lake, Anacortes: Where the Road Runs Into the Forest
South Anacortes near the Whistle Lake trails and the Anacortes Community Forest Lands.
Where Whistle Lake sits in Anacortes
Whistle Lake is the neighborhood along Whistle Lake Road, the road that leaves the south end of the Anacortes grid past Stittwood and runs south into the forest lands to the Whistle Lake trailhead. The lake itself sits inside the Anacortes Community Forest Lands, one of the eight named lakes on Fidalgo Island, with Sugarloaf and Mount Erie rising to the west of it. Homes here are on the stretch of road before the forest takes over.
I have been walking these trails since I was a kid. When people ask me what is different about living here versus anywhere else in Anacortes, the answer is that your neighbors are the forest lands: 2,950 acres of city-owned forest, lakes, streams, and wetlands with more than fifty miles of trails, and the trailhead is down your road. The lake is kept quiet on purpose: the City's forest plan bans motorboats on Whistle Lake, the forest lands are open five in the morning to ten at night by city code, dogs stay leashed, and hunting, shooting, camping, fires, fireworks, and alcohol are all prohibited in the ACFL.
Ask DiAnn about Whistle Lake
Homes in Whistle Lake, Anacortes
Whistle Lake Road homes sit on far larger lots than the city grid. I represented the buyers of a 1993 home on a full acre on Whistle Lake Road in 2021, and when I pulled comparables for a hillside listing in the summer of 2026, one of the nearby sales was a 1981 home on 2.62 acres farther down the same road. That is the kind of property this road has that the numbered streets do not.
Two things to check on any Whistle Lake property before you fall for it: whether it is on city sewer or septic, and whether it is inside the city limits or in the county, because the road crosses that line, and the county record shows exactly where. Every address from the 4000s through 4320 is inside the city; from 11022 south, every parcel is Skagit County under Rural Intermediate zoning. Inside the line does not mean city sewer: the four tracts of the 1992 short plat in the 4300 block, 0.84 acre to a full acre with homes built 1993 to 1998, are on septic, and some of them on wells. The acre I sold sits inside the city on septic; the 2.62-acre sale is a county parcel. South of the line the lots run from a fifth of an acre to farm parcels of 24 contiguous acres, nearly all on septic and wells, with homes from 1919 farmsteads to 2018. I confirm all of it before an offer.
Getting around from Whistle Lake
Whistle Lake Road takes you north to the south end of town, and the numbered streets take you over to Commercial Avenue. From there, Commercial runs to downtown Anacortes in one direction and, as the state highway spur, to Highway 20 and the mainland in the other. The Washington State Ferries terminal is across the island on the west side. Mount Erie Park, 160 city-owned acres at Ray Auld Drive and Heart Lake Road with a single-lane paved road to the 1,273-foot summit, the highest point on Fidalgo Island, is reached around by Heart Lake Road.
The honest trade-off, and how I work it
You give up walkability and you give up the salt water. You are not strolling to Commercial Avenue and you are not looking at Burrows Bay. What you get is the forest, the lake, and a bigger piece of ground. Compared with Stittwood next door, Whistle Lake is more rural and less about the view; compared with Campbell Lake to the south, it is closer to town and partly inside the city instead of out on Highway 20.
Selling acreage and forest-edge property is its own job: the well, the septic, the survey, and the county or city zoning all need answers before the photos, and the buyers for it are specific and worth finding. That is selling your home with me, priced from the free EPIC™ Home-Selling Report. Buyers, start with buying a home or relocation, and see my current listings. The neighbor pages are Stittwood and Campbell Lake. DiAnn Sager, RE/MAX Gateway. Ask me about Whistle Lake.
By the road from Whistle Lake
By the road from the middle of Whistle Lake, it is 9.2 miles to the Anacortes ferry terminal, 5.7 to 10th and Commercial, 14 to the Burlington I-5 exit, 38 to downtown Bellingham. These are road miles from OpenStreetMap routing, measured September 2026, by road and not by ferry.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you live on Whistle Lake itself?
No. The lake sits inside the Anacortes Community Forest Lands. The neighborhood is the homes along Whistle Lake Road on the way to the trailhead, not lakefront homes.
Are Whistle Lake Road homes inside Anacortes city limits?
Some are and some are not; the road crosses the line between the 4300 block and the 11000s. The acre I sold on the road sits inside the city, on septic, and a 2.62-acre sale farther down is a county parcel. That affects permits and zoning, and sewer versus septic is its own question on both sides of the line, so I confirm it for any specific property before you make an offer.
What is the Anacortes Community Forest Lands?
The City of Anacortes owns 2,950 acres of forest, lakes, streams, and wetlands on Fidalgo Island, with more than fifty miles of trails through it. Whistle Lake and Heart Lake are inside it, and Mount Erie, the island's 1,273-foot high point, rises above it. Motorboats are banned on Whistle Lake, and Heart Lake is five miles an hour, no wake.
Buying in Whistle Lake
Selling in Whistle Lake
The method
How we do it in Whistle Lake
Explore more of the North Puget Sound
Ready to make your move with DiAnn Sager?