Mobile Menu

  • Destinations
    • Canada
      • British Columbia
        • Vancouver Island, B.C.
        • Okanagan
        • Lower Mainland, B.C.
        • Northern B.C.
        • Interior B.C.
        • Kootenays/Rockies
      • Alberta
      • Yukon
      • Northwest Territories
    • U.S.A.
      • Alaska
      • Washington
      • Oregon
      • California
    • West Coast Galleries
  • Experiences
    • Things To Do
    • Staycation Secrets
      • Canada
      • U.S.A.
    • Adventure
      • Adrenaline
      • Beaches
      • Biking
      • Camping
      • Fishing
      • Hiking
      • Hunting and Fishing
      • Rafting
      • Skiing
    • Sip & Savour
    • Family Activities
    • Indigenous Tourism
    • Accessible Travel
    • Travel Tips & Advisories
  • West Coast Galleries
    • Nature Photography
    • Wildlife Photography
    • Cityscapes
  • Contests
    • Autumn Escape
    • Amateur Photographer of the Year 2023
    • Hotel Zed Contest
    • It’s A Shore Thing Summer Getaway
  • About
    • The Armchair Traveller Newsletter
    • Explore our travel guides
    • Impressive West Coast
    • West Coast Partners
    • West Coast Traveller Directory
    • Join Our Team
    • Contact Us
    • Explore West Coast Traveller on TikTok
  • Search
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • TikTok Icon
  • Flickr Icon
  • Menu
  • Skip to left header navigation
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • TikTok Icon
  • Flickr Icon

West Coast Traveller

  • Destinations
    • Canada
      • British Columbia
        • Vancouver Island, B.C.
        • Okanagan
        • Lower Mainland, B.C.
        • Northern B.C.
        • Interior B.C.
        • Kootenays/Rockies
      • Alberta
      • Yukon
      • Northwest Territories
    • U.S.A.
      • Alaska
      • Washington
      • Oregon
      • California
    • West Coast Galleries
  • Experiences
    • Things To Do
    • Staycation Secrets
      • Canada
      • U.S.A.
    • Adventure
      • Adrenaline
      • Beaches
      • Biking
      • Camping
      • Fishing
      • Hiking
      • Hunting and Fishing
      • Rafting
      • Skiing
    • Sip & Savour
    • Family Activities
    • Indigenous Tourism
    • Accessible Travel
    • Travel Tips & Advisories
  • West Coast Galleries
    • Nature Photography
    • Wildlife Photography
    • Cityscapes
  • Contests
    • Autumn Escape
    • Amateur Photographer of the Year 2023
    • Hotel Zed Contest
    • It’s A Shore Thing Summer Getaway
  • About
    • The Armchair Traveller Newsletter
    • Explore our travel guides
    • Impressive West Coast
    • West Coast Partners
    • West Coast Traveller Directory
    • Join Our Team
    • Contact Us
    • Explore West Coast Traveller on TikTok
  • Search
You are here: Home / Travel / For $7, take a walk on the spiritual side of Whidbey Island

For $7, take a walk on the spiritual side of Whidbey Island

August 15, 2022 //  by Black Press Media Staff

Share this:

It’s like a 72-acre theme park where the rides are spiritual. 

And if you want, you can stay eternally at Earth Sanctuary.

What’s up with that?

Chuck Pettis made a bundle in the stock market around 2000 and used it to create a destination to uplift people’s consciousness. Or to allow them to RIP.

Chances are you’ve never heard of Earth Sanctuary on Whidbey Island, WA, a mere 15-minute drive from the Clinton ferry terminal and a half-mile off Highway 525, somewhere between Langley and Freeland.

About 6,000 people a year visit. Admission is $7 for a self-guided tour of 14 secluded sites in a nature preserve.

“We aren’t Disneyland,” Pettis says. “There’s a certain kind of person interested in these kinds of sculptures and sacred spaces.”

Instead of a funhouse mirror, the “Veils of Reality” sculpture lets visitors see themselves in an introspective light.

The grounds have two miles of wooded trails with environmental art and reflective ponds. And birds, so many birds.

Circle the labyrinth to meditate and cogitate.

Find calm and feel centred inside the 20-ton dolmen, a megalith of upright stones with horizontal slab top.

A 40-foot stone circle with an outer ring of 12 stones standing 11 feet high will make you wonder how in the world Pettis got those gigantic pillars here.

The stones were trucked from a rock warehouse in Issaquah. Heavy equipment brought it from the road, where sounds of distant traffic can be heard at points in the thick woods.

Mostly, though, what you hear are warblers, wrens, owls, hawks and waterfowl. And the occasional bullfrog.

Light filters through the forest canopy of sequoia, redwood, pine, maple, fir, aspen, cottonwood and other trees.

“It is contemplative, peaceful and magical,” Pettis says.

It’s a place to chill, even if you aren’t spiritual. On a visit last week I saw a woman lying in the tall grass in a meadow reading a book.

Pettis showed me around while greeting the occasional guest along the path.

He’s 73, with ball cap atop hair past his shoulders and the gait of a man half his age. He could easily pass as the groundskeeper, which he is.

Pettis comes daily to walk the trails. He lives with his wife, Claudie, a painter, in a waterfront home several miles away.

The property was an overgrown mess when he bought it.

“You needed a machete to go anywhere,” he says.

His two sons helped build the dolmen structure in 2002, the same year as the labyrinth and a small stone circle.

Pettis, a longtime Tibetan Buddhist, added the dome-shaped stupa with a row of prayer wheels in 2011. Make sure to spin each wheel. “If you’re into the power of prayer, this is really a good thing to do,” he says.

Every site has a meaning for Pettis, even those cracks in the circle of small stones (weighing only 600 to 1,000 pounds) shipped from a quarry in his hometown of Ithaca, New York.

“A couple of the pieces had broken and were glued and pinned back together again,” he says. “That reminds me of a couple times in my life where I goofed up and had to glue myself back together again, hopefully stronger than before, and wiser.”

He has degrees in psychology from Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh and in design from Southern Illinois University, where he studied in Buckminster Fuller’s design department. Pettis was inspired by the famous visionary.

Here, he was able to make his own visions come true.

“In the late ’90s, I did some branding work for some internet companies and I got paid partially in stock. The investments popped and made me modestly wealthy,” he said. “My wife said, ‘Do something good with your money.’ I’m not into boats or anything like that.”

Pettis says he has plunked well over $1 million into Earth Sanctuary, which also houses a spiritual retreat center.

There’s a lot more to come.

Earth Sanctuary is 22 years in the making, with about 480 to go.

“It’s part of a 500-year masterplan,” Pettis says.

He hopes to be there spiritually through the centuries. He envisions Earth Sanctuary to be an old-growth forest and has planted more than 3,000 trees.

A memorial tree program was started by request in 2020. More than 60 people have since paid $500 to $1,500 for a tree with a small personalized marker. Ash burial is $250.

“People come here and walk around and find a tree that speaks to them,” Pettis says. “They find a tree with a connection to a loved one. A woman found a tree for her and her pet.”

Artworks he designed include the “Infinite Tower,” a 24-foot column of interlocking triangles, a driftwood “Ley Line,” and the latest, in 2021, a bright red metal 12-foot “Compressed Cube Tensegrity” sculpture.

It takes at least an hour for a quick tour.

“I was fascinated by the whale skeleton,” says Ava Ferguson, a visitor from Bellingham.

The skull of a baby gray in the authentic “Gray Whale Medicine Wheel” is a shrine for all water beings. It was added and blessed in 2012.

The labyrinth is more than going around in circles.

“If you are cogitating on a problem, you can pose that problem going into the center and then coming out again,” Pettis says. “It’s like going to your higher self and maybe you’ll get insight you wouldn’t get otherwise.”

I didn’t have a problem handy to cogitate on. My cares were long gone.

If you go:

Earth Sanctuary is open daily until dark on Whidbey Island, WA.

Entrances are at 2059 Newman Rd. and 5536 Emil Rd.

Payment, $7, is on the honor system, by cash, check, Venmo or PayPal.

Plan your visit at earthsanctuary.org

Share this:

Category: TravelTag: Spiritual, Staycation secrets, Things to do, USA, Washington, WCT Intro, Whidbey Island

Related Posts

You may be interested in these posts from the same category.

Boo the bear preps for big spring debut as B.C.’s Kicking Horse Resort opens

It’s a bear-y good day for fans of Boo the bear. With British Columbia’s Kicking…

Boo the bear preps for big spring debut as B.C.’s Kicking Horse Resort opensRead More

Waterfalls, not wildflowers are Mt. Rainier National Park’s main springtime attraction

By Taylor Newquist, The Spokesman-Review A thin layer of clouds hung over Mount Rainier on…

Waterfalls, not wildflowers are Mt. Rainier National Park’s main springtime attractionRead More

Fly high and touch the sky at Golden Skybridge

For adrenaline junkies, outdoor adventurers or families looking for a thrilling, interactive way to spend…

Fly high and touch the sky at Golden SkybridgeRead More

Ottawa rejigs trusted-traveller program in bid to avoid last summer’s airport chaos

The federal government has rolled out a revamp of its trusted-traveller program to clear any…

Ottawa rejigs trusted-traveller program in bid to avoid last summer’s airport chaosRead More

Fire-breathing metal dinosaur roars for travellers in BC Ferries lineup

Passengers waiting at a BC Ferries terminal in Nanaimo in Vancouver Island were probably not…

Fire-breathing metal dinosaur roars for travellers in BC Ferries lineupRead More

‘You barked, we listened:’ BC Ferries’ pet pilot project expanded

Dogs – and cats – are getting their day on BC Ferries … at least…

‘You barked, we listened:’ BC Ferries’ pet pilot project expandedRead More

200+ former employees return to Lytton’s Kumsheen Resort to kick off 50th anniversary

In what was expected to be one of the biggest gatherings in the Lytton area…

200+ former employees return to Lytton’s Kumsheen Resort to kick off 50th anniversaryRead More

Summer zipline tours to restart at Juneau’s Eaglecrest Ski Area

Visitors to Juneau, Alaska can once again take to the skies at Eaglecrest Ski Area,…

Summer zipline tours to restart at Juneau’s Eaglecrest Ski AreaRead More

5 ways to be more food sustainable while travelling

By Katrina Sirotta It’s the night before a big trip. You’ve got your luggage packed,…

5 ways to be more food sustainable while travellingRead More

Previous Post: « Centre of the Universe reopens for astronomy enthusiasts in Saanich
Next Post: Rare white orca from California spotted taking a big family trip to B.C. »

Primary Sidebar

Things To Do

Boo the bear preps for big spring debut as B.C.’s Kicking Horse Resort opens

May 29, 2023

Waterfalls, not wildflowers are Mt. Rainier National Park’s main springtime attraction

May 26, 2023

Fly high and touch the sky at Golden Skybridge

May 25, 2023

Ottawa rejigs trusted-traveller program in bid to avoid last summer’s airport chaos

May 24, 2023

Recent Posts

Boo the bear preps for big spring debut as B.C.’s Kicking Horse Resort opens

May 29, 2023

Waterfalls, not wildflowers are Mt. Rainier National Park’s main springtime attraction

May 26, 2023

Fly high and touch the sky at Golden Skybridge

May 25, 2023

Ottawa rejigs trusted-traveller program in bid to avoid last summer’s airport chaos

May 24, 2023

Footer

The West Coast Traveller has an immense social media footprint, with eight social media sites and and 125,000+ social followers.

Join us on social media and Join Our Community by sharing your stuff!

Get Inspired

News Media Groups

Black Press Media
Sound Publishing
Oahu Media Group
Alaska
Boulevard Magazines
Used.ca

Let’s Get Social

West Coast Traveller
I Love British Columbia
I Love Alberta
I Love Yukon
I Love Northwest Territories
I Love Washington
I Love California
I Love Oregon
I Love Alaska

Visit Our Companion Sites

I Love Saskatchewan
I Love Manitoba
I Love Nunavut
I Love Ontario
I Love Quebec
I Love Newfoundland and Labrador
I Love Nova Scotia
I Love New Brunswick
I Love Prince Edward Island

Site Footer

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • TikTok Icon

Copyright © 2023 West Coast Traveller and · All Rights Reserved