Waldron Island Island

Waldron Island is a roughly 4.6-square-mile island in San Juan County that has chosen to remain off the grid. There is no ferry service, only a single county-owned dock, and the island has no electricity grid, no public water supply, no landline phones, no stores, and no paved roads. Its hundred or so residents live in single-family, off-grid homes under a county Limited Development District plan that preserves its rural isolation.

In the 1890s a sandstone quarry opened at Point Disney on the island's southeast tip, supplying paving stones for Seattle's Yesler Way; today the Point Disney preserve is protected by the San Juan Preservation Trust and the Nature Conservancy. With essentially no tourist facilities, Waldron holds limited appeal for casual visitors and is best appreciated as a glimpse of the San Juans' quiet, self-sufficient side.

• The deliberately off-grid, undeveloped rural character of the island
• Point Disney, site of a historic 1890s sandstone quarry
• Point Disney nature preserve protected by conservation trusts
• Cobbled and pebble shorelines viewed from the water by boat
• Birdlife and quiet forest along the island's edges
• A rare living example of a self-sufficient San Juan community

Waldron Island has no Washington State Ferry service and no public transportation. It is reached only by small private boat, arriving at the single county-owned community dock. There are no stores, fuel, lodging, or visitor facilities on the island, and much of the land is private residential property, so it is not set up for tourism. Visitors should come fully self-sufficient and respect residents' privacy.

If visiting by boat, the calm, dry summer months of roughly June through September offer the safest and most pleasant crossing in the Salish Sea. Because the island has no facilities and access depends on small-boat weather, winter trips are difficult, with cold, wet, windy Pacific Northwest conditions and rougher water.