San Juan Islands: The Pig War, Lime Kiln Whales & Orcas Island

The Washington State Ferry from Anacortes to Orcas Island is approximately 75 minutes with a stop at Shaw Island — a working car ferry that crosses the channels between the islands, with views of Lopez, Shaw, and Orcas islands. Book ferry reservations (car and passenger) well in advance for summer. The ferry ride itself is a significant scenic experience: the Salish Sea channels between the islands, with the Olympic Mountains to the south and the Canadian Gulf Islands to the north, are among the most visually complex waterways in North America.

Six original log cabins arranged around a central garden in Eastsound village — each cabin preserving a different aspect of Orcas Island's history: a Lummi Nation collection (the island's original inhabitants), pioneer homesteading tools and photographs, a maritime and fishing equipment collection, and a natural history display. The museum is small but the cabin arrangement is unusual and the Lummi Nation exhibit is the strongest single element.

Eastsound is the main village on Orcas Island — a concentrated mix of independent galleries, bookstores, farm-to-table restaurants, and the island's general store, all within three blocks. The Orcas Island Artworks gallery (in a converted strawberry-sorting shed) and Darvill's Rare Book Shop are the most characterful stops. Turtleback Mountain Preserve (10 minutes west of Eastsound) has a 1.5-mile trail to a summit ridge overlooking West Sound and the Gulf of Georgia, with views into the interior of the island's forested ridges.

A 1906 Craftsman mansion on the eastern shore of Orcas Island — built by Seattle shipbuilder Robert Moran as his private estate and opened as a resort in 1960. The mansion houses a pipe organ that Moran installed during his residence; the resort offers rooms in the historic buildings and in newer waterfront cottages. The panoramic view of the Rosario Strait and the ferry route is one of the best on the island.

The southern end of San Juan Island — where the Pig War of 1859 began when American farmer Lyman Cutlar shot a Hudson's Bay Company pig (which was raiding his garden), the British demanded his arrest, and both nations escalated until 461 American soldiers and 5 British warships faced each other at the island. The 12-year joint military occupation that followed was peacefully resolved in 1872 by Kaiser Wilhelm I's arbitration in favor of the US. American Camp preserves the earthworks and officer quarters of the US Army camp; the beach below the camp faces the Olympic Mountains and has consistent wind.

Considered the best place in the world to watch orcas from land — the Southern Resident Killer Whales (J, K, and L pods, a genetically isolated and endangered population of approximately 75 orcas) reliably pass through Haro Strait along the island's west shore in summer as they follow the Chinook salmon runs. A hydrophone array at the lighthouse monitors their vocalizations; on calm days the whales can be heard from the lighthouse deck. The 1919 Lime Kiln Lighthouse is the centerpiece of the park.

The British Royal Marines' camp on Garrison Bay — a sheltered cove on the north end of San Juan Island, with the original blockhouse, barracks building, and formal garden preserved. The English Camp was the more comfortable of the two military posts during the joint occupation: Garrison Bay's protection and the Marines' officer culture produced a manicured garden that is still maintained. Young Hill above the camp (1 mile round trip) gives views of the Strait of Georgia and the Canadian Gulf Islands.

A boutique hotel on the bluff above Friday Harbor's main dock — rooms overlook Friday Harbor and the ferry arrivals. The village itself has excellent seafood (Downriggers on the waterfront; The Backdoor Kitchen for a more intimate setting). Tomorrow's ferry back to Anacortes departs from the Friday Harbor dock.

A Swinomish Channel fishing village founded in 1867 that became an arts community in the 1970s — La Conner's First Street is one block of galleries, bookstores, restaurants, and shops in original 19th-century buildings that front the Swinomish Channel, with the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community's land directly across the water. Morris Graves and Guy Anderson were among the painters who settled here; the Museum of Northwest Art has the most comprehensive collection of Pacific Northwest regionalist painting. The Skagit Valley tulip fields (in bloom April) surround the town.

The major collection of Pacific Northwest art outside Seattle — focused on the Northwest School of painters who worked in and around La Conner from the 1930s through the 1960s: Morris Graves, Mark Tobey, Guy Anderson, and Kenneth Callahan. The collection's particular strength is the abstract-expressionist tradition specific to the Pacific Northwest, which developed independently from the New York school and drew more directly on Asian philosophy and the Puget Sound landscape.

A 1935 bridge connecting Whidbey Island to Fidalgo Island over a 180-foot-deep tidal strait — named Deception Pass by George Vancouver in 1792 when he realized it was not a bay. The bridge gives the most dramatic roadway view in Washington state: directly below, tidal water rushes through the narrow rock gorge at speeds up to 8 knots in opposing directions depending on the tide. The state park (Washington's most visited) has trails along both sides of the pass, a beach on Cranberry Lake, and several North Beach sections along the Strait of Juan de Fuca.