Rowboat Camping 2026
by Mike Thompson, 9/29/2026
During the summer of 2026 I did three, multi-day rowboat camping trips. The goal was to visit as many of the over sixty Cascadia Marine Trail campsites as possible. These sites, mostly in Washington State or local (e.g. PenMet Parks on the Kitsap Peninsula) parks, support travelers in human-powered boats on the Salish Sea. Jane and I are members of the Washington Water Trails Association, which works with the various parks organizations to maintain these campsites, spaced along the shoreline at intervals to make long-distance trips possible for paddlers and rowers.
The text below is from Facebook posts that I did at the end of each of the three trips. These posts were forwarded to Washington Water Trails Association members by Executive Director Andree Hurley.
CENTRAL PUGET SOUND - July 6, 2026
Just got back from a three-day rowboat camping trip out on the Sound. Day #1 I rowed from Mukilteo to the north end of Bainbridge Island, where I camped at Faye Bainbridge State Park. On day #2 I looped around the north end of the island then down through Agate Pass. From the south end of Bainbridge Island I rowed east through Rich Passage and on out to the campsite at the northwest tip of Blake Island. Day #3 was Blake Island to Gig Harbor through Colvos Passage.
Photo is of the rowboat on the beach at Faye Bainbridge State Park, looking east across the Sound toward the shoreline just north of Seattle.
Calm water for the crossing between Edmonds and Kingston, and with no passing freighters or cruise ships that needed to be dodged. The second morning was the prettiest. Got on the water at 6:00 AM, needing to get through Agate Pass before the ebb current started running hard at about 8:00 AM. Not a breath of wind, the water a sheet of glass, and the sort of quiet that you get when there's a little low overcast. Not a soul around except the shorebirds and the occasional harbor seal poking its head above the surface. Still water magic!
Photo is of the rowboat on the beach at Manchester State Park, looking southeast roward Blake Island, with Mt. Rainier in the background.
The last stretch to Blake Island got a bit challenging when a northeast breeze kicked up, bringing some whitecaps and wind swell. The north wind continued the third day which, coupled with wakes from all of the power boats returning to port at the end of the July 4 weekend, made the rowing a bit of a rock and roll affair that demanded concentration. Rounded the little sand spit at the entrance to Gig Harbor at 4:30 PM, tied up at the public dock, hauled my gear across the street to the Maritime Inn, and enjoyed a warm bath and a soft bed after two nights of sleeping in the tent.
One of the goals of the trip was to visit Washington Water Trails Association campsites along the way and see what condition our signage is in. There were seven sites that I either camped at or made brief stops at: Meadowdale Beach, Fay Bainbridge, Brownsville, Manchester, Blake Island, Lisabuela, and Sunrise Beach.
This trip provided a wonderful mental/spiritual reset, and I met some nice folks along the way as well.
SOUTH PUGET SOUND - August 8, 2026
I just got back from a four-day rowboat camping trip, my second of the summer. This one was a tour of southern Puget Sound, starting and ending in Gig Harbor, during which I camped at or visited eight Cascadia Marine Trail sites: Tacoma Narrows, Fox Island Fishing Pier, Anderson Island, Hope Island, Jarrell Cove, Joemma Beach, Penrose Point, and Tacoma Demolay Sand Spit.
Photo taken while rowing under the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, just south of Gig Harbor.
On Day #1 it was out of Gig Harbor, under the Tacoma Narrows bridge, and south to Anderson Island, where I camped at the Cascadia Marine Trail site on the island's southwest side. Day #2 I rowed northwest to Johnson Point, then southwest around the southern tips of Harstine Island and Squaxin Island to Hope Island, then north the length of Harstine Island to camp at Jarrell Cove.
Photo is of the rowboat on the beach at Anderson Island.
Day #3 I rowed south along the western shore of the Key Peninsula, with stops at Herron Island and Joemma Beach. After rounding the peninsula's southern tip, I rowed north and camped at Penrose Point. Day #4 it was across Carr Inlet, east through Hale Passage just north of Fox Island, and then back through the Tacoma Narrows to Gig Harbor.
A wonderful trip in so many ways! First, a terrific, hands-on geography lesson on a part of Puget Sound I had never visited. Having to thread your way around islands, past points, and along shorelines really brings the names on the map to life.
Got to see lots of wildlife: a Kingfisher fishing in the lagoon and a Barred owl along the trail at Anderson Island, an Osprey returning to its roost with a fish in its talons, a Harbor seal rookery at McNeil Island, and Dall's porpoises. Long stretches of rhythmic, meditative rowing on clear, still water. Drifting silently through Bull kelp beds as they streamed along with the current.
And I met some neat people along the way, including a group of two camp counselors and four teenage girls from Camp Gallagher who were on a multi-day rowing/camping trip of their own.
It's a fascinating way to go camping in our wonderful corner of the planet. Many thanks to the Washington Water Trails Association for working with state and local parks organizations to maintain this network of campsites, which make trips like this possible for wanderers in human-powered boats.
SAN JUAN ISLANDS - September 13, 2026
I rowed into La Conner last night at the end of a four-day rowboat camping trip through the San Juan Islands. This was my third rowboat camping trip of the summer, and it was fantastic!
This trip started in Anacortes, where I rowed out of the Cap Sante Marina on Wednesday morning. Day #1 was rowing west to the Washington State Ferries terminal near Washington Park, then north to Pelican Beach on the east side of Cypress Island, where I camped that night. There was time that afternoon to hike up to Eagle Cliff, which offers a spectacular view of the San Juans from the east.
Video taken from Eagle Cliff on Cypress Island, looking north toward Canada, then west toward the San Juan Islands, then southeast toward Anacortes.
Day #2 started at dawn with the crossing Rosario Strait (including an uncomfortable dance with a northbound freighter), entering the San Juans through Obstruction Pass. I stopped at the CMT (Cascadia Marine Trail) campsite there to fix breakfast, then rowed west across the mouth of East Sound and between Orcas and Shaw Islands to the Orcas Island ferry terminal. I beached the rowboat, scrambled up the bank, and had a sandwich and a can of beer for lunch at the little grocery store. Then continued west on Cayou Channel, through Pole Pass, and out to the little CMT campsite on the west shore of Jones Island.
Photo is of the rowboat on the beach at Jones Island, looking northwest toward the Gulf Islands in Canada.
Having made it to the westernmost point of the trip, it was time to start looping back to the east. The morning of Day #3 I left Jones Island and rowed southeast, past Yellow Island and across to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. There I tied up at the public dock, walked up the hill, and stopped at the Rocky Bay Cafe for coffee and a veggie omelet.
Next it was east for a quick stop at Turn Island, then northeast across San Juan Channel, where I encountered a little current trouble. Being over an hour behind schedule at this stage, the flood current had started, and it was pushing me back in the direction from which I had just come. After spending well over an hour making the crossing to reach the south shore of Shaw Island, I then had to hug the rocks and eddy hop my way to Shaw's southeast tip, where the current split and I was finally able to row northeast toward the northern tip of Lopez Island.
Photo is of Cascadia Marine Trail signage put in place at Shaw Island State Park by the Washington Water Trails Association.
Current is a BIG DEAL in the San Juan Islands! In the weeks preceding this trip, I spent many, many hours searching for a route/schedule that would align with the flood and ebb currents through the many channels between the islands, including Guemes Channel, Rosario Strait, Obstruction Pass, Pole Pass, San Juan Channel, Thatcher Pass, Deception Pass, and Swinomish Channel.
Now well behind schedule, Day #3 ended at Spencer Spit State Park, about five miles short of James Island, which had been my goal for the day. Lucky me! Turns out that Spencer Spit is way prettier than James Island, and here I found my favorite campsite of the whole trip. The shoreline here is most unusual, with a long sand spit that almost, but not quite, reaches a small offshore island. I could just barely slip the rowboat between the island's rocky shore and the tip of the sand on my way through to the CMT campsite at the base of the spit. That campsite is positively gorgeous, a broad, grassy spot under a big Hawthorn tree with a picnic table, separate from the regular camping area, and just far enough up the hill to offer a beautiful view to the east. I hope to find my way back to Spencer Spit again and again!
Photo is looking east from the Cascadia Marine Trail campsite at Spencer Spit State Park on the east shore of Lopez Island.
Day #4 started with recrossing Rosario Straight from west to east, the ebb current aiding me on my way south toward Deception Pass. After a break at Bowman Bay while the current switched from ebb to flood, I headed into Deception Pass and under the bridge. There was LOTS of current in Deception Pass by the time I entered, and I found myself quickly flushed through and into the north end of Skagit Bay. Continuing my unofficial survey for the Washington Water Trails Association of CMT sites and signage, I made brief stops at Skagit Island, Hope Island, and Ala Spit.
I was lucky to hit the end of the flood current in Swinomish Channel, which carried me up to the public dock at La Conner. Jane met me there with the car, we collected the boat trailer, I rowed back to the boat launch, we pulled the rowboat out of the water, had dinner in La Conner, and made the drive back to Edmonds, arriving just before midnight.
Many thanks to the Washington Water Trails Association and to Parks (both state and local) for establishing and maintaining the Cascadia Marine Trail campsites that make such multi-day trips possible for paddlers/rowers. I camped at or visited a dozen CMT sites along the way during this trip, including Cypress Head, Pelican Beach, Obstruction Pass, Jones Island, Turn Island, Shaw Island County Park, Spencer Spit, James Island, Bowman Bay (Deception Pass), Skagit Island, Hope Island, Ala Spit, and Pioneer Park (La Conner).