Patos Island is a small island in the

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 of ...

of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

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 ...

. Since 1893, it has been home to the

Patos Island Light Patos Island Lighthouse is an active aid to navigation overlooking the Strait of Georgia at Alden Point on the western tip of Patos Island in the San Juan Islands, San Juan County, Washington, in the United States. The station is the northernmo ...

house, guiding vessels through

Boundary Pass , image = Monarch Head (7604530136).jpg , image_size = 250px , alt = , caption = View of Boundary Pass from Monarch Head, Saturna Island , image_bathymetry = Locmap-Haro-Boundary additional l ...

between Canada and the United States. The name comes from the Spanish ''pato'', meaning "duck," which was given to the island in 1792 by Commander

Dionisio Alcalá Galiano Dionisio Alcalá Galiano (8 October 1760 – 21 October 1805) was a Spanish naval officer, cartographer, and explorer. He mapped various coastlines in Europe and the Americas with unprecedented accuracy using new technology such as chronomete ...

of the '' Sutil'' and Captain

Cayetano Valdés y Flores Cayetano Valdés y Flores Bazán (1767–1835) was a commander of the Spanish Navy, explorer, and captain general who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, fighting for both sides at different times due to the changing fortu ...

of the '' Mexicana''. The island and adjacent islets comprise Patos Island State Park, a marine park with of saltwater shoreline. The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission began operating Patos Island as a state park under a lease agreement with the Bureau of Land Management in 1974. The entire island is owned by the federal government and is administered by the Bureau of Land Management's Wenatchee Office. The

Washington State Parks The Washington State Park System is a set of State park, state parks owned by the state government of Washington (state), Washington, United States, USA. They are managed by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. There are over 140 ...

and Recreation Commission operates a small campground facility at Active Cove near the west side of the island, maintains a loop trail, and has two offshore mooring buoys. The entire island, including the lighthouse, is part of the

San Juan Islands National Monument San Juan Islands National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located in the Salish Sea in the state of Washington. The monument protects archaeological sites of the Coast Salish peoples, lighthouses and relics of early European American sett ...

, created in 2013.

References

External links

Patos Island Marine State Park
Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission
Patos Island State Park Map
Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission
Patos Islands
Bureau of Land Management {{authority control San Juan Islands State parks of Washington (state) Islands of Washington (state) Bureau of Land Management areas in Washington (state) Parks in San Juan County, Washington Pre-statehood history of Washington (state) Spanish history in the Pacific Northwest Protected areas established in 1974 1974 establishments in Washington (state) Uninhabited islands of Washington (state)

See also

References

External links