{"id":1506,"date":"2016-06-15T00:15:49","date_gmt":"2016-06-15T07:15:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/debgarland.com\/?p=1506"},"modified":"2026-05-16T17:06:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T00:06:23","slug":"turn-island-a-washington-state-marine-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debgarland.com\/?p=1506","title":{"rendered":"Turn Island – A Washington State Marine Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

Boat camping in the San Juan Islands is a lot of fun! Toss a tent, sleeping bag, and cooking gear ashore and sleep under the stars beside the sea. Sound idyllic? It is\u2014especially after sailing, paddling, or kayaking to your destination with family and friends. One summer, good sailing friends took pity on us when we had to leave our sailboat in a dusty boatyard to have its hull resealed. They invited us to sail to the islands aboard their twenty-foot Flicka. Without room for all four of us to sleep aboard, my husband and I pitched our backpacking tent on the beach.\u00a0We experienced the best of both worlds and so can you!<\/p>\n

\"440px-SanJuanIslandAtNight\"<\/a>Reef Point near Turn Island – Wikimedia Commons<\/span><\/h5>\n

Turn Island and Matia Island are the only islands in the San Juan Islands National Wildlife Refuge open to the public and available for year-round camping. Access to the 35-acre island is by boat from Jackson Beach on nearby San Juan Island or from Washington Park in Anacortes on the mainland. It is easiest to go ashore\u00a0to camp or hike\u00a0in the northwest cove where there are three mooring buoys.\u00a0Curious raccoons and deer visit the 12 campsites with picnic tables during the day or night, making it essential to store\u00a0food in animal-proof containers or hang it out of reach from a tree branch. Camp stoves are allowed, but no campfires.\u00a0Due to wildlife concerns, neither are pets.<\/p>\n

\"Turn_Island-WSParksRec\"<\/a>\"Turn_Island_WSMARINEPARK\"<\/a>\"Turn_Island_WaStateMarinePark\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo credit: Washington State Parks<\/a><\/h5>\n

Originally thought to be a point of land and named Salisbury Point by Charles Wilkes for one of his officers during the Wilkes Expedition\u00a0in 1841, Turn Island was later discovered to be an island where San Juan Channel changes direction. For this reason, the British Admiralty Charts of 1858-59 named it Turn Island.<\/p>\n

\"Turn_Island-DOE-Sam_Buck\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo credit: Washington State Dept. of Ecology<\/h5>\n

The University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Laboratory\u00a0conducts marine research at three study sites around Turn Island, monitoring fish living among\u00a0its sub-tidal rocky reefs. Other\u00a0underwater creatures found here are the Rainbow Star, Diamond Back Tritonia, and Clown Nudibranch shown respectively in the below\u00a0photos.<\/p>\n

\"Rainbow_Star-wikimediacommons\"\"Diamond_Back_Tritonia\"<\/a>\"Clown_Nudibranch-CALIF\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons<\/h5>\n

On a recent ferry ride\u00a0to Friday Harbor, we happened to spot the charter schooner\u00a0SPIKE AFRICA\u00a0<\/em>sailing past Turn Island under full sail in a strong wind. Built by Bob Sloan over 40 years ago and possessing the functional elegance of 19th-century coastal schooners, the ship\u00a0has hauled\u00a0freight, won yacht races, and starred in films.<\/p>\n

\"SpikeAfrica_1102-1024\"<\/a><\/p>\n

SPIKE AFRICA<\/em> sailing past Turn Island<\/h5>\n

Thank you for reading!<\/p>\n

Blessings,
\nDeb<\/p>\n

\"Turn_Island_Moorage_Chart\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo credit: Washington State Parks<\/a><\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Boat camping in the San Juan Islands is a lot of fun! Toss a tent, sleeping bag, and cooking gear ashore and sleep under the stars beside the sea. Sound idyllic? It is\u2014especially after sailing, paddling, or kayaking to your … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":1536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[20,468],"tags":[109,478,476,254,596,475,473,439,438,471,474,21,11,186,477,470,469,472,238],"class_list":["post-1506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-san-juan-islands","category-turn-island","tag-anacortes","tag-charter-schooner","tag-clown-nudibranch","tag-deb-garland","tag-deb-garlands-san-juan-islands-beyond","tag-diamond-back-tritonia","tag-friday-harbor-laboratory","tag-httpwww-blog-debgarland-com","tag-httpwww-debgarland-com","tag-jackson-beach","tag-rainbow-star","tag-san-juan-island","tag-san-juan-islands","tag-san-juan-islands-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-spike-africa","tag-turn-island","tag-turn-island-a-washington-state-marine-park","tag-washington-park","tag-washington-state-parks"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t