• Mt. Baker from American Camp prairie

    San Juan Island

    National Historical Park Washington

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  • Park on Winter Schedule

    The American Camp Visitor Center is closed Thanksgiving Day, re-opening Friday. Winter hours: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Wednesday-Sunday. The English Camp Visitor Center is closed for the winter. Grounds at both units are open from dawn to 11 p.m. daily. More »

Wildflowers

camas_buttercups
A cluster of camas and buttercups blossom near the Jakle's Lagoon/Mt. Finlayson trailhead.
Mike Vouri
 

One of the most enchanting times to visit San Juan Island NHP is in spring, when native wildflowers bloom. Purple camas and sprays of spring gold blanket American Camp's open prairie, along with hookedspur violets, smallflower woodland-stars, and buttercups. Along the bluffs, look for tiny blue-eyed Marys, seashore lupines and chocolate lilies.

The area on the Redoubt looks like a wedding bouquet, with red sorrel, purple camas and white Death camas. On the ridge of Mt. Finlayson, you'll find Miner's lettuce, desert parsley (around the parking lot), sheep sorrel, prairie saxifrage, and two varieties of brodiaea. At English Camp, follow a trail of fawn lilies on your way up to Mt. Young, and look off the trail for smatterings of purple shooting stars.

Efforts are underway to restore native wildflowers through eradicating invasive, non-native plants.

Pick up a free wildflower guide at the American Camp visitor center.

Efforts are underway to restore native wildflowersthrough eradicating invasive, non-native plants.

Pick up a free wildflower guide at the American Camp visitor center.

Did You Know?

Belle Vue Sheep Farm in 1859

Belle Vue Sheep Farm, founded in 1853 on San Juan Island, was a classic HBC sheep station with two rows of tidy log houses, heavy-duty fencing for sheep pens and an English-style, double-bay barn.  Its establishment created tensions that nearly brought war with the United States. More...