San Juan Island National Historical Park
San Juan Island is well known for its splendid vistas, saltwater shores, quiet woodlands, orca whales and one of the last remaining native prairies in the Puget Sound/Northern Straits region. But it was also here in 1859 that the United States and Great Britain nearly went to war over possession of the island, the crisis ignited by the death of a pig.
Alerts
- CautionNPS ↗Wildlife Viewing Guidelines
San Juan Island National Historical Park provides habitat for many species of animals. When you visit the park, you are visiting their home. Do not approach any wildlife within 75 ft/23 m (two school bus lengths).
Fees & passes
Free. No entrance fee here.
Hours
| San Juan Island National Historical Park | Daily · All Day |
When to go
July draws the most visits here and December the fewest, averaged over 2021 to 2025.
Visitor centers
- American Camp Visitor Center ↗Passport stamp
The American Camp visitor center is located on Cattle Point Road on the island's southern peninsula. This visitor center opened to the public in June of 2022 and features incredible new exhibits detailing the Coast Salish presence, military history of San Juan Island, and our island's ecology.
No campgrounds, no webcams or events in Park Service data. What is here comes from the official page. The rest lives there.
Checked nightly. Modules appear as soon as the Park Service publishes the data.
Explore
Things to do
- Tide Pooling at San Juan Island
Tide pooling is a fun way to get to know the sea life surrounding San Juan Island
Opens on the Park Service site - Hike The Mount Finlayson Loop Trail1-2 Hours
This popular trail is a 2.9 mile loop. It visits numerous ecosystems and provides excellent views of the Cascades and Olympic Mountains.
Opens on the Park Service site - Hike to Young Hill
The hike to the top of Young Hill provides a panoramic view of San Juan Island’s bays, English Camp, and Vancouver Island.
Opens on the Park Service site - Hike the Mitchell Hill Moderate Loop
The Mitchell Hill Moderate Loop incorporates some of the best trail segments along a slightly more challenging route. The trail takes you through a dense cedar grove and to the top of Mitchell Hill.
Opens on the Park Service site - Hike the Mitchell Hill Easy Loop
The Mitchell Hill Easy Loop follows the Inner Loop Road trail - a picturesque journey through the lush landscapes at English Camp.
Opens on the Park Service site - Hike the Bell Point Loop
The Bell Point trail traverses a mature madrona forest and hugs the shores of Garrison Bay and Westcott Bay.
Opens on the Park Service site
Show all 12Hide
- Hike to Grandma's Cove
The hike to Grandma's Cove is one mile round trip and visits a sheltered ocean cove great for swimming and looking at tide pools.
Opens on the Park Service site - Hike to Fourth of July Beach
This beach access is a great way to explore the shoreline and the lagoons. Walking south will take you to Old Town Lagoon.
Opens on the Park Service site - Hike the South Beach Trail
Visit South Beach via this short 1 mile hike! The trail travels through the American Camp prairie; keep an eye out for foxes, bald eagles, and rabbits.
Opens on the Park Service site - Hike the Jakle's Lagoon Nature Trail
This 1 mile trail is an excellent place to take young people to learn more about our environment. Informational waysides along the trail describe the diverse forest ecosystem here.
Opens on the Park Service site - Hike the Old Military Road Trail
The Old Military Road Trail (also known and more often signed as “The American Camp Trail”) is a 1 mile trail that takes visitors from the American Camp Visitor Center to the Frazer Homestead Preserve.
Opens on the Park Service site - American Camp History Walk
Embark on a captivating 1 mile guided walk through San Juan Island National Historical Park, where you can relive the intriguing events of the Pig War. Interpretive waysides provide historical insight into the life of soldiers at American Camp.
Opens on the Park Service site
Films
National Park Service productions, public domain.
Map
Interactive map by the National Park Service
Historic landmarks nearby
Public land nearby
Distances are approximate. Wilderness Atlas publishes a center point and an acreage for each area rather than a boundary, so each area is treated here as a circle of the same size and the figure is the gap to that circle.
Guidebooks for the Pacific Northwest
We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.
Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject.
Reference
Wildlife
Seen this monthBarred Owl 30× · Harbor Seal 19× · North American River Otter 17× · Red Fox 15× · Belted Kingfisher 12× · Indian Peafowl 10× · Bald Eagle 9× · Great Horned Owl 9×Research-grade observations within 25 km, last 30 days, via iNaturalist
Full checklist: 165 birds, 19 mammalsHide
Raptors & owlsAmerican Kestrel · Bald Eagle · Cooper's Hawk · Golden Eagle · Great Horned Owl · Hen Harrier · Northern Saw-whet Owl · Osprey · Peregrine falcon (Peale's) · Red-tailed Hawk · Sharp-shinned Hawk · Short-eared Owl · Swainson's Hawk · Turkey Vulture · barn owl · mid-western barred owl · western screech-owl
Waterfowl & wadersAmerican Coot · American Wigeon · Barrow's Goldeneye · Black-necked Grebe · Blue-winged Teal · Brandt's Cormorant · Bufflehead · Canada Goose · Cinnamon Teal · Common Goldeneye · Common Loon · Common Merganser · Common Teal · Double-crested Cormorant · Great Blue Heron · Greater Scaup · Greater White-fronted Goose · Harlequin Duck · Hooded Merganser · Horned Grebe · Lesser Scaup · Northern Pintail · Pied-billed Grebe · Red-breasted Merganser · Red-necked Grebe · Ring-necked Duck · Trumpeter Swan · Virginia Rail · Western Grebe · Wood Duck · Yellow-billed Loon · long-tailed duck · pelagic cormorant
Shorebirds & seabirdsAmerican Black Oystercatcher · Baird's Sandpiper · Black Turnstone · Bonaparte's Gull · Buff-breasted Sandpiper · California Gull · Common Gull · Common Tern · Glaucous-winged Gull · Greater Yellowlegs · Heermann's Gull · Killdeer · Least Sandpiper · Lesser Yellowlegs · Long-billed Dowitcher · Long-tailed Jaeger · Red-necked Phalarope · Rhinoceros Auklet · Ring-billed Gull · Semipalmated Plover · Short-billed Dowitcher · Spotted Sandpiper · Thayer's Gull · Tufted Puffin · Western Gull · Western Sandpiper
Gamebirds & dovesBand-tailed Pigeon · California Quail · Common Pheasant · Common Pigeon · Mourning Dove · Pigeon Guillemot · Wild Turkey
WoodpeckersDowny Woodpecker · Hairy Woodpecker · Northern Flicker · Pileated Woodpecker · Red-breasted Sapsucker
Hummingbirds & swiftsAmerican Black Swift · Rufous Hummingbird · Vaux's Swift
Also on the checklistAmerican Bushtit · American Cliff Swallow · American Crow · American Goldfinch · American Robin · Arctic Skua · Audubon's warbler · Barn Swallow · Belted Kingfisher · Bewick's Wren · Black Scoter · Black-headed Grosbeak · Brewer's Blackbird · Brown Creeper · Brown-headed Cowbird · Canvasback · Cassin's Vireo · Cedar Waxwing · Chestnut-backed Chickadee · Chipping Sparrow · Common Guillemot · Common Nighthawk · Common Starling · Common Yellowthroat · Dark-eyed Junco · Eurasian Whimbrel · Fox Sparrow · Gadwall · Golden-crowned Kinglet · Golden-crowned Sparrow · Great Grey Shrike · Hammond's Flycatcher · Horned Lark · House Finch · House Sparrow · House Wren · Hutton's Vireo · Mallard · Marsh Wren · Myrtle's warbler · Northern Raven · Northern Rough-winged Swallow · Northern Shoveler · Olive-sided Flycatcher · Pacific Diver · Pacific wren · Pacific-slope flycatcher · Pine Siskin · Purple Finch · Purple Martin · Red Crossbill · Red-breasted Nuthatch · Red-throated Diver · Red-winged Blackbird · Savannah Sparrow · Song Sparrow · Sora · Surf Scoter · Surfbird · Swainson's Thrush · Townsend's Solitaire · Tree Swallow · Varied Thrush · Velvet Scoter · Vesper Sparrow · Violet-green Swallow · Warbling Vireo · Western Bluebird · Western Meadowlark · Western Tanager · Western Wood Pewee · White-crowned Sparrow · Willow Flycatcher · spotted towhee
Small mammalsDeer Mouse · European Rabbit · Townsend's Vole · Vagrant Shrew
PredatorsAmerican Mink · Common Otter · raccoon · red fox
Hoofed mammalsMule Deer
BatsBig Brown Bat · Black Bat · California Myotis · Hoary Bat · Keen's Myotis · Little Brown Bat · Long-eared Myotis · Long-legged Myotis · Yuma Myotis
Also on the checklistferal cat
Activities
Activity guides for this park Birdwatching in the national parks · Canoeing and kayaking in the national parks · Hiking in the national parks · Wildlife watching in the national parks
Weather & climate
Spring: Temperatures usually range from 40 F to 60 F. Wildflowers are at their peak around May. Summer: Temperatures usually range from 45 F to 70 F. On very sunny days, be prepared with water-heat exhaustion is a common complaint among park visitors who are unprepared. Fall: Temperatures usually range from 40 F to 65 F. Rain is common. Winter: Temperatures range from 35 F to 50 F. Be prepared with cold and wet weather gear and numerous layers if you intend to be outside. Rain and wind are common.
Questions people ask
Does San Juan Island charge an entrance fee?
No. San Juan Island is free to enter.
Source: National Park Service
Is San Juan Island open year-round?
Yes. The grounds are open 24 hours a day, year-round.
Source: National Park Service
Is anything closed at San Juan Island right now?
1 active alert as of October 14, 2026: Wildlife Viewing Guidelines.
Source: Alerts
How busy is San Juan Island?
420,922 recreation visits in 2025, number 126 of 387 units that report visitation.
Source: Most visited parks
Is there cell service at San Juan Island?
At the park's reference point, FCC coverage maps show T-Mobile 5G. No reported coverage for Verizon and AT&T. Coverage inside the park varies by location.
Source: FCC Broadband Map
What is the weather like at San Juan Island?
Spring: Temperatures usually range from 40 F to 60 F. Wildflowers are at their peak around May.
Source: Weather & climate
Follow this park
- Alerts feed (RSS)
- Every active Park Service alert for this unit, one item each, rebuilt with the nightly data refresh.
- Add dates to your calendar (.ics file)
- Fee-free entrance days that apply here and each published hours exception, as all-day events.
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