About Samish Island
Last update: March 8, 2010
Community | Location & Geography | Geology | Marine Environment | Recreation | Maps & Driving Directions Page | History Page | Services Page| Photo Gallery Page |
The Samish Island website is a community page, serving new & established residents, visitors, and others interested in western Skagit County.
Community
Samish Island is a residential island community in Skagit County, Washington, between Anacortes and Chuckanut Drive. It has limited services and small businesses.
There is no "island center" or town with coffee shops, small shops, or other social places. We are about 15-25 miles from anywhere. View the various services on the island.
Residents are a mix of working people, retired people, young families, small business owners, small and large landowners, and many summer residents. There are approximately 480 houses on the island. The population grows on weekends and in the summer.
Island residents gather several times a year for potluck dinners and guest speakers at the Community Hall.
Location and Geography
Samish Island is located off the northwest coast of Washington State. In the past it was an island, but has been connected to the mainland by a dike since the 1930's. View the maps page.
Samish is informally considered one of the "inner San Juan islands", along with Guemes, Eliza, Vendovi, Lummi, Cypress, Sinclair, and other small islands to the east of the larger San Juan Islands.
Island size: 3.56 miles x 1 mile, measured from Point Williams to Scott Point, and Point Williams to Kirby Spit respectively.
Map coordinates are 48°34'34"N, 122°32' 23"W.
Samish island was part of the ancestral homelands of the Samish Tribe a Coast Salish group of the Pacific Northwest.
 Click map to enlarge |
Estuary The island is located on the estuary of the Samish River which comes into Samish Bay and Alice Bay on the southeast side of the island. Padilla Bay in located on the southwest side of the island. |
Samish is located on the rainfall map in the 30-40" zone. It is in garden zone 7B, with average minimum temperature of 5-10°. Some protected areas of the island are in gardening zone 8. One household grows a banana tree, with winter protection.
Geology:
Geologically speaking, Samish Island is really two small rocky islands. Glaciers piled millions of tons of sand and gravel on top of them, making them higher and wider, and connecting them with a narrow ridge of sand (tombolo) to produce Samish Island's distinctive hourglass shape. View the tombolo in this picture.
Sea levels were much higher after the glaciers melted, so for thousands of years the Samish Flats were flooded, and Padilla Bay and Samish Bay together formed one very large bay with Samish Island in the middle.
As recently as 1887, according to maps made by the U.S. Navy, Samish Island was separated from the flats by a slough or salt marsh. Dikes and drainage ditches were built to create more farmland. By the 1930's the connection was dry between the island the mainland.
Samish island is generally considered part of the Nanaimo Formation. This formation is much younger than the other terranes in the San Juan Islands and consequently is much less deformed. Read more about the general geologic history of the islands at the Anacortes Kayak Tours web site.
Marine Environment
Samish Bay is the site of several oyster growing operations: Blau Oyster, Taylor Shellfish farms along Chuckanut Drive, and several small oyster growers along the shorelines of Samish Island. Check the businesses page for links.
Crabs, clams, salmon, oysters & bottom fish love the waters of the bays, and provide residents and fishermen with in-season catch. Eel grass along the muddy bottom forms an excellent habitat. Seals visit all year long on the hunt club island. The resident blue heron colony and the year-round eagle and hawk population are a joy for bird-watchers.
Large container ships, tankers, and tugs are also part of our marine environment in Samish Bay. Read more about them in an article by a marine lawyer who lives on island.
Recreation:
The island has several recreation facilities: The Samish Island Playground and Tennis Court; walking and biking on (fairly narrow, no-shoulder) roads. In addition, there is a watsu pool (private, by appointment), a bird watcher's group, and other recreation groups on the island. View the groups page, or the Samish Shore Lines for more information on various activities of recreational interest.
The DNR park (Samish Island Day Use Area), formerly located on the island, was unfortunately closed in June 2009. Read more about this in the letter from DNR personnel. All beach stairs, restrooms, tables and benches were removed from the area. There are no plans to reopen at this time.
Camps
There are two camps on the island, Camp Kirby at the southwest end owned by Campfire Samish Council, and Camp Samish at the east end of the island on Scott Point, owned by the Community of Christ Church. Each may be available for rentals. Contact Camp Kirby rental (non-profit youth group camps or meetings), or Camp Samish (large or small group camps, retreats, reunions or meetings).