Shaw Island

Four of the San Juan Islands are accessible by Washington State Ferry, and Shaw is the smallest and least visited. The island lacks restaurants, lodging, or medical care, but does have a general store and post office, along with a peaceful landscape of wooded hills, old farms, and rocky shores. Shaw's main attraction is quietude, with limited traffic and no large developments. Cedar Rock Biological Preserve is a beautiful natural area on the south side of Shaw, and visitors can check out the tiny historical museum and fire-engine-red one-room schoolhouse near the center of the island. Nuns at the Benedictine monastery on Shaw raise black ...

Four of the San Juan Islands are accessible by Washington State Ferry, and Shaw is the smallest and least visited. The island lacks restaurants, lodging, or medical care, but does have a general store and post office, along with a peaceful landscape of wooded hills, old farms, and rocky shores. Shaw's main attraction is quietude, with limited traffic and no large developments. Cedar Rock Biological Preserve is a beautiful natural area on the south side of Shaw, and visitors can check out the tiny historical museum and fire-engine-red one-room schoolhouse near the center of the island. Nuns at the Benedictine monastery on Shaw raise black Cotswold sheep, Scottish Highland cattle, alpacas, and other unusual animals. Roads are narrow and tree-lined, perfect for weekend bike rides. Locals guard their privacy on Shaw, so much of the island is posted with "No Trespassing" signs. Most visitors to Shaw come for the day, staying on other islands in the San Juans, but beachside campsites are available in Shaw Island County Park.

About the Expert

Don Pitcher has written or photographed 10 travel guidebooks to Alaska, Wyoming, Yellowstone-Grand Teton, and the San Juan Islands for Avalon Travel Publishing, Random House, and Sasquatch Books.