Stuart Island State Park – Reid Harbor

Stuart Island is aimed like an arrowhead at the Canadian Gulf Islands. Much of the island is private, with steep and unapproachable shores. The island has no town, no ferry service, no restaurant, no store or repair shop.

This lack of facilities doesn’t deter boaters, however, as Stuart is blessed with two outstanding harbors that flank the isthmus of a popular state park. Of the two, Reid Harbor is the most popular.

Moorings and Anchorage
You can anchor almost anywhere in Reid Harbor, but most boaters head for the west half, where there are several park floats. The float connected to land is toward the head of the bay on the northwest shore, in fairly shallow water. Check the tides if your boat has a deep draft. Toward the center of the bay are two detached floats. During summer, boats raft all around, and the floats themselves may be obscured.

Two rows of mooring buoys, with seven buoys per row, are set east of the park floats. Fees are charged year-round for all park floats and buoys. The fee box is on shore at the head of the ramp.

The detached float southeast of the main dock is for sanitary pump-out only.

One of many trails in Stuart Island Marine State park

Getting Ashore
The state park encompasses the marsh at the head of the bay and about half the isthmus. Gossip Island, at the entrance to Reid Harbor, and the smaller island (known locally at Cemetery Island), are also public. All other tidelands are private.

For the Crew/Things to Do
Stuart Island State Park has firepits, restrooms and more than a dozen campsites. There are trails throughout the park’s 150 acres of cedar, fir and madrona trees. Clamming is good at the head of Reid Harbor. In the quiet of dawn and dusk, deer browse on the cliffs.

Ambitious hikers who want to explore beyond the park can do so without trespassing on private land by starting from the county street end, at the west corner of Reid Harbor. To the north, about a mile along the road, is the school and cemetery. Near the school is a tiny building once used as teacher’s residence that’s now a museum chronicling the island’s history and inhabitants. T-shirts and other souvenir items made by a local family are sold at the Treasure Chest, a roadside stand at the entrance to the school site.

Two more miles north and west of the school is the Turn Point Lighthouse. Adjoining roads and all surrounding lands are private. There is public access to the summit of Tiptop Hill. Note that some of the park trails continue on to private land.

Sailor, writer and teacher Migael Scherer, who divides her time between Seattle and Lopez Island, is the author of “A Cruising Guide to Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands,” published by International Marine/McGraw-Hill. The guide can be purchased online through Armchair Sailor Books & Charts, Captain’s Nautical Supplies, Amazon and other retailers.