Visit
Welcome!
Welcome to the Whidbey Institute, a home for transformational learning since 1972.
The Whidbey Institute is at 6449 Old Pietila Road, Clinton, WA 98236 on the south end of Whidbey Island. We are about 75 minutes north of Seattle, including a 15-minute ferry ride from Mukilteo to Clinton.
Four miles of public trails are open to the public from dawn until dusk, 365 days a year.
Participating in a program?
Read our welcome packet before your arrival for FAQs, a packing list, and arrival instructions.
Lodging
Our overnight accommodations for groups onsite include a cabin village in the forest, an historic Farmhouse in our heartland, and Granny’s, a woodland home. Together, these cabins and homes sleep 30, generally one or two per room. Space for campers with tents is available in the summer.
Meals
Meals at the Whidbey Institute are lovingly prepared, using local, fresh, organic produce whenever possible. Our team is always willing and able to accommodate special dietary requests, and meals often include an abundance of gluten-free, low-sugar, and vegan options.
Meals are one of the things that keep people coming back—in fact, the feedback we receive most often relates to the delicious, abundant, and nourishing food that our team provide time after time!
Our Common Spaces
Come visit. You Belong here.
Commons
The Commons is our newest gathering space and accommodates up to 22 people. It includes a full kitchen and two bathrooms with showers for campers to use.
Sanctuary
This non-denominational sacred space is often used for meditation, dance, small gatherings, and break-outs. It features a reading loft, live edge timber-framed construction, and wood sourced largely from on-site.
Storyhouse
Located away from the main campus in the Legacy Forest, Storyhouse can be used for break-outs and small gatherings. It features a living room with wood stove, electric heat, and a kitchenette. There is no refrigerator. Storyhouse is serviced by a nearby, single portable restroom.
Thomas Berry Hall
Our main gathering space accommodates up to 75 people, and includes a sound system, projector and screen, and vaulted ceiling with skylights. Nearby, you will find our dining room, chef’s kitchen, restrooms, and staff offices.
Labyrinth
Our outdoor stone labyrinth is built and maintained by volunteers, and modeled after the famous labyrinth at Chartres, France. It is a popular site for reflection and walking meditation.
Storyhouse Theater
The Heartland
Public Trails
Our 4 miles of public trails are open to the public from dawn ’til dusk every day. If you’re hoping to bring your work to the Whidbey Institute, submit a program inquiry. If you’d like to participate in a program or attend a community event, search our events calendar.
Trail Map
Four miles of public trails are open to the public from dawn until dusk, 365 days a year. We ask that dogs, bicycles, and horses be left home, please!
Getting Here:
Paine Field in Everett—our closest airport, just 4 miles from the ferry dock—is now serving the public. Here’s a link to directions from Paine Field to the Mukilteo Ferry.
On Whidbey:
Drive down/up 525 till you come to Cultus Bay Road, take a right if coming from up north and a left if coming from down in Clinton or off the ferry.
Drive for a minute or so and then take a right onto Campbell Road.
Take a left onto Old Pietila Road.
There is parking immediately to your right if you'd like to go for a hike, or walk to the Heartland.
Keep driving for another minute or so and you will come to our second parking lot, at the base of the Heartland.
For high accessibility parking, keep driving up the narrow, windy road, and there is a small parking lot at the top, across from Thomas Berry Hall.
