The highway winds gradually upward along a shelf cut in the rocky face of Chuckanut Mountain. Far below the cobalt-blue reaches of Chuckanut Bay shimmer in the sun, or matching the grey of stormy skies, surge in a dizzy race of whitecaps toward the shore.

It was named Puerto del Socorro by Lieut. Juan Francisco de Eliza in 1791. On December 1, 1852, the present name was chosen by Capt. Henry Roeder.