Lime Kiln Point State Park

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Lime Kiln Point State Park
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Location in the state of Washington
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Lime Kiln Point State Park (the United States)
Location San Juan, Washington, United States
Coordinates 48°30′59″N123°08′50″W / 48.51639°N 123.14722°W / 48.51639; -123.14722 Coordinates: 48°30′59″N123°08′50″W / 48.51639°N 123.14722°W / 48.51639; -123.14722 [1]
Area42 acres (17 ha)
Elevation187 ft (57 m) [1]
Established1984 [2]
OperatorWashington State Parks and Recreation Commission
Website Lime Kiln Point State Park

Lime Kiln Point State Park is a 42-acre Washington state park on the western shore of San Juan Island in the San Juan archipelago. The park is considered one of the best places in the world to view wild orcas from a land-based facility. [2] Due to the unique bathymetric properties of the site, visitors on the shore can be within 20 feet of whales jumping out of the water (breaching and spyhopping). It houses one of Friday Harbor's two lighthouses along with a stone lookout with picnic tables. The park was the site of lime kilns beginning in 1860, and one kiln has been restored as a public exhibit.

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Activities and amenities

The park provides opportunities for picnicking, hiking, beachcombing, orca watching, and tours of the still operational Lime Kiln Light. An interpretive center has displays and activities about orcas and the area's former lime kiln industry. [2] The park is supported in part by the Friends of Lime Kiln. Volunteers and marine naturalists are often onsite to assist and educate visitors. [3]

Related Research Articles

San Juan Islands Archipelago in the Salish Sea in Washington, US

The San Juan Islands are an archipelago in the Pacific Northwest of the United States between the U.S. state of Washington and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The San Juan Islands are part of Washington state, and form the core of San Juan County.

San Juan Island Island in the Salish Sea

San Juan Island is the second-largest and most populous of the San Juan Islands in northwestern Washington, United States. It has a land area of 142.59 km² and a population of 6,822 as of the 2000 census.

Orcas Island Largest of the San Juan Islands, in Washington state, USA

Orcas Island is the largest of the San Juan Islands of the Pacific Northwest, which are in the northwestern corner of San Juan County, Washington.

Sucia Island

Sucia Island is located 2.5 miles (4.0 km) north of Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands, San Juan County, Washington, United States. It is the largest of an archipelago of ten islands including Sucia Island, Little Sucia, Ewing, Justice, Herndon, the Cluster Islands islets, and several smaller, unnamed islands. The group of islands is about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) in length and just short of a half mile wide. Sucia island is roughly the shape of a hand. The total land area of all islands is 2.74 km². The main island of Sucia Island by itself is 2.259 km². There was a permanent population of four persons as of the 2000 census, all on Sucia Island. Sucia Island State Park is a Washington State Marine Park.

San Juan Island National Historical Park

San Juan Island National Historical Park, also known as American and English Camps, San Juan Island, is a U.S. National Historical Park owned and operated by the National Park Service on San Juan Island in the state of Washington. The park is made up of the sites of the British and U.S. Army camps during the Pig War, a boundary dispute over the ownership of the island. The camp sites were designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. The park was created by an act of Congress in 1966 and expanded slightly in 2013.

Spencer Spit State Park

Spencer Spit State Park is a public recreation area ran under the Washington State Parks. It covers one hundred and thirty-eight acres (56 ha) on the eastern shore of Lopez Island in San Juan County, Washington. It overlooks the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The state park features two sand spits that enclose a salt chuck lagoon that provides a migratory stop for waterfowl, including Bonaparte's gulls. Other local fauna include great blue herons and kingfishers.

Moran State Park

Moran State Park is a public recreation area on Orcas Island in Puget Sound's San Juan Islands in the state of Washington, United States. The state park encompasses over 5,000 acres of various terrain including forests, wetlands, bogs, hills, and lakes. It is the largest public recreation area in the San Juan Islands and the fourth largest state park in the state. A park focal point is the observation tower atop Mount Constitution, the highest point in San Juan County at 2,407 feet.

Jones Island State Park is a Washington state park coterminous with Jones Island, one of the San Juan Islands in San Juan County, Washington, USA. It is located one mile (1.6 km) west of the southwestern corner of Orcas Island and accessible only by boat. The island has a land area of 188 acres (76 ha) and no resident population. The island was named by the Wilkes Expedition in 1841 for naval officer Jacob Jones.

Lime Kiln Light Lighthouse

The Lime Kiln Light is a functioning navigational aid located on Lime Kiln Point overlooking Dead Man's Bay on the western side of San Juan Island, San Juan County, Washington, in the United States. It guides ships through the Haro Straits and is part of Lime Kiln Point State Park, which offers tours during summer months.

James Island (San Juan Islands) Island of the San Juan Islands in Washington state, United States

James Island is one of the San Juan Islands in San Juan County, Washington, United States. It lies in Rosario Strait just off the eastern shore of Decatur Island and west of the city of Anacortes. The entire island comprises James Island State Park of the Washington State Park System. It has a land area of 113 acres (46 ha) with 12,335 feet (3,760 m) of saltwater shoreline. The island has no potable water or residents. It has three different camping areas, each with at least one toilet. The camping areas combine for a total of 13 campsites and are connected by a loop trail. James Island was named by Charles Wilkes in 1841 to commemorate the naval hero Reuben James. The property was transferred from the federal government to the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission in 1964.

Skull Island is the name of two small islands in the San Juan Archipelago in the U.S. state of Washington. The northernmost Skull Island is located off the coast of Orcas Island in Massacre Bay, the most northern extension of the island's West Sound. It is identified as 3.2-acre (1.3 ha) Skull Island State Park Property by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. It was named for holding skulls and bones of a band of Lummi who were killed by raiding Haida in 1858. Since 2013, it has been part of the San Juan Islands National Monument.

Turn Island, is a 34-acre (14 ha) island in the San Juan Islands in the Salish Sea in the U.S. state of Washington. The island sits in the San Juan Channel about 900 feet off the eastern edge of San Juan Island. It is preserved as Turn Island Marine State Park and is part of the San Juan Islands National Wildlife Refuge. The island has 12 campsites and is only accessible by water.

Matia Island Island of the San Juan islands in Washington, United States

Matia Island is an island in the San Juan Islands of the U.S. state of Washington. The island's entire 145 acres (59 ha) comes under the protection of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and is cooperatively managed by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission as Matia Island Marine State Park. Matia Island is a National Wildlife Refuge, part of the San Juan Islands National Wildlife Refuge. A 2-acre (0.81 ha) camping area around Rolfe Cove is managed as a State Marine Park by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission under an agreement dating back to 1959. Pets, wood collecting, and campfires are not allowed on the island. Except for the Wilderness Loop Trail and the campground, all areas above the high tide line are closed to the public.

Clark Island (Washington)

Clark Island is an island in the San Juan Islands of the Pacific Northwest, located near Barnes Island off the northeast coast of Orcas Island. It is part of the U.S. state of Washington. Clark Island Marine State Park, which encompasses the entire 55-acre (22 ha) island, has two picnicking sites, 15 primitive campsites, and nine mooring buoys.

Blind Island Marine State Park Park in the U.S. state of Washington

Blind Island Marine State Park is a public recreation area consisting of the entirety of Blind Island, a three-acre (1.2 ha) island at the entrance to Blind Bay on Shaw Island in San Juan County, Washington. It is part of the San Juan Islands National Monument. The island lies one-third of a mile west of the Shaw Island ferry terminal and has 1,280 feet (390 m) of saltwater shoreline. The park is cooperatively managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and Washington State Parks.

Roche Harbor, Washington Unincorporated community in Washington, United States

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Doe Island State Park is a public recreation area comprising the entirety of Doe Island, a seven-acre (2.8 ha) island lying some 300 feet (91 m) off the eastern flank of Orcas Island in San Juan County, Washington. It has 2,049 feet (625 m) of shoreline and a trail three-tenths of a mile long that circles the island. It is accessible only by water. Washington State Parks acquired a portion of the island from the Bureau of Land Management in 1964 for $15.27, with a second acquisition in 1967 from DNR for no cost. Activities include camping, boating, fishing, crabbing, birdwatching, and wildlife viewing.

Obstruction Pass State Park

Obstruction Pass State Park is a public recreation area occupying 76 acres (31 ha) one mile southeast of Olga at the southern end of Orcas Island in San Juan County, Washington. Park activities include picnicking, fishing, crabbing, beachcombing, bird watching, and hiking on a zero-point-six-mile (0.97 km) trail. The campground has nine tent spaces, one of which is reserved for kayakers on the Cascadia Marine Trail.

Saddlebag Island Marine State Park is a public recreation area made up of 26-acre (11 ha) Saddlebag Island, part of the San Juan Islands, in Skagit County, Washington. The island sits in Padilla Bay four miles (6.4 km) northeast of Anacortes, Washington. Dot Island and Huckleberry Island lie nearby. Saddlebag Island was held in private ownership until 1974, when the state purchased it for $192,000 for use as a state park.

References

  1. 1 2 "Lime Kiln Point State Park". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey.
  2. 1 2 3 "Lime Kiln Point State Park". Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  3. "Friends of Lime Kiln Society" . Retrieved August 9, 2018.