Moran State Park is a public recreation area on Orcas Island in

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected m ...

San Juan Islands The San Juan Islands are an archipelago in the Pacific Northwest of the United States between the U.S. state of Washington and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The San Juan Islands are part of Washington state, and form the core ...

in the state of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. The

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

encompasses over 5,000 acres of various terrain including forests, wetlands, bogs, hills, and lakes. It is the largest public recreation area in the San Juan Islands and the fourth largest state park in the state. A park focal point is the observation tower atop

Mount Constitution Mount Constitution is a mountain on Orcas Island, the highest point in the San Juan Islands and the second highest mountain on an ocean island in the contiguous 48 states. Only Devils Peak in the Channel Islands of California is higher. A sto ...

, the highest point in San Juan County at 2,407 feet.

History

The park was originally the estate of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

mayor and shipbuilder

Robert Moran Robert Moran (born January 8, 1937) is an American composer of operas and ballets as well as numerous orchestral, vocal, chamber and dance works. Life A native of Denver, Moran studied twelve-tone music privately with Hans Apostel in Vienna and ...

. Due to poor health, Moran moved to Orcas Island and between 1906 and 1909 built his estate, which included a large mansion named

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central Argentine province of Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous city in the country, and is also the most p ...

. Wood and stone material found on the island were used to construct the estate's houses and buildings. In 1921, Moran gave a large portion of his property to the state of Washington for the creation of Moran State Park. The mansion and its grounds remain in private hands, operated as Rosario Resort and Spa. In August 1935, 28 men from the 4768th Company of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) began constructing a stone observation tower atop Mount Constitution. Designed by noted Seattle architect

Ellsworth Storey Ellsworth Storey (November 16, 1879 – May 28, 1960) was a Seattle, Washington, Seattle architect. He is known for combining contemporary and historical architectural styles with local materials to create a regional architectural style that ...

, the tower became the literal and figurative high point of eight years of work by crews from the CCC's Camp Moran. The state park was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 2013.

Activities and amenities

The park has more than of trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding, non-motorized boating from two boat ramps, and year-round camping in five camping areas. The Mount Constitution observation tower commands sweeping marine views from the highest point in the San Juan Islands. Friends of Moran raise money for park needs through fundraising and by operating a small gift shop at the top of the mountain. The volunteer group organizes park cleanups and improvement events.

References

External links

Moran State Park
Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission
Moran State Park Map
Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission
Moran State Park
Orcas Online {{authority control State parks of Washington (state) Parks in San Juan County, Washington Protected areas established in 1921 Civilian Conservation Corps in Washington (state) National Park Service rustic in Washington (state)