Take in the Views

San Juan Island’s landscape is a feast for the senses. You can easily reach high points for a panoramic view of the Olympic mountain range, the North Cascades, and surrounding islands. On clear days, you can even spy the distant outline of Mount Rainier over 120 miles away!

American Camp has the most accessible viewpoints of the two units. On Cattle Point road, a roadside pullout provides stunning sunset views of the Cattle Point Lighthouse, Olympic Peninsula, and Vancouver Island. The short, moderately strenuous hike to the summit of Mount Finlayson provides a lookout to see the North Cascades and Olympic Peninsula. On top of The Redoubt which is a short, easy stroll from the Redoubt Road parking lot, visitors are treated to showy springtime wildflower displays and the nearby Olympic Peninsula.

At English Camp, located 13 miles north, visitors are entertained by a different viewscape. From the top of Young Hill, a short but strenuous hike, you can see Vancouver Island, the city of Victoria, and the interior of San Juan Island. The English Camp Parade Ground provides an excellent place to observe the sheltered waters of Garrison Bay whose waters are often filled with glowing, bioluminescent algae.