Matia Island () is an 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 sover ...

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 on ...

. The island's entire comes under the protection of the

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with oth ...

and is cooperatively managed by the

Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission The Washington State Park System is a set of state parks owned by the state government of Washington, USA. They are managed by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. There are over 140 parks throughout the state, including 19 marine ...

as Matia Island Marine State Park. Matia Island is a National Wildlife Refuge, part of the

San Juan Islands National Wildlife Refuge The San Juan Islands National Wildlife Refuge is in the San Juan Islands of the Salish Sea, north of Puget Sound, in the State of Washington. Created in 1976, it comprises 83 small, uninhabited islands, scattered throughout the San Juans, with a c ...

. A camping area around Rolfe Cove is managed as a State Marine Park by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission under an agreement dating back to 1959. Pets, wood collecting, and campfires (excluding liquid fuel campstoves) are not allowed on the island. Except for the Wilderness Loop Trail and the campground, all areas above the high tide line are closed to the public.

History

Matia was named in 1792 by the Spanish explorer

Francisco de Eliza Francisco de Eliza y Reventa (1759 – February 19, 1825) was a Spanish naval officer, navigator, and explorer. He is remembered mainly for his work in the Pacific Northwest. He was the commandant of the Spanish post in Nootka Sound on Vancouve ...

as ''Isla de Mata'', which can be translated into English as "island of no protection" or other meanings relating to lush plant growth. Matia Island was established as "a refuge and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife" in 1937 and became a National Wildlife Refuge in 1940. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (formerly the U.S. Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife) and the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission entered into a cooperative management agreement in June 1959 to use a small portion of the island ( around Rolfe Cove) as a State Marine Park and campground in response to uncontrolled use by the public with the proliferation of private boats in the years following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1976, all but the State Marine Park was designated as Wilderness under the Wilderness Act of 1964. Island visitors may access a loop trail through the wilderness portion of the island which is otherwise closed to the public to provide undisturbed habitat for wildlife. Visitors are required to stay on the trail and are not allowed to access other areas from the trail. The wilderness trail offers a unique glimpse of protected old growth island forest habitat present in only a few places in the region.

The Hermit of Matia Island

For almost 30 years a man, Elvin H. Smith, lived in a cabin on a bay in the island's southeast corner (opposite Rolfe Cove). Smith was born in Wisconsin circa 1835. He fought in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

during the 1860s, rising from private to brevet captain in the Union Army. Embittered because Army bureaucrats never recognized his battlefield commission and disappointed by an unhappy love affair, he left home for good and headed west. After a stint as a newspaperman, he worked for years as a traveling passenger agent for the

Northern Pacific Railroad The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by 38th United States Congress, Congress in 1864 and given ...

until he gave up railroad business in 1890 and came to

Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the most populous city in, and county seat of Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It lies south of the U.S.–Canada border in between two major cities of the Pacific Northwest: Vancouver, British Columbia (locat ...

. Once in Bellingham, Smith joined forces with a lawyer to make some money on land speculation. There were rumors that the federal government was going to open Matia Island for homesteading. The lawyer fronted money to buy out a pair who had acquired squatters' rights on Matia. Smith moved to the island in April 1892 to perfect a claim the partners could sell at a profit. He was later dubbed "The Hermit of Matia Island", and remained there until his supply-laden rowboat vanished on in a storm on February 23, 1921 en route from nearby

Orcas Island Orcas Island () is the largest of the San Juan Islands of the Pacific Northwest, which are in the northwestern corner of San Juan County, Washington. History and naming of the island The name "Orcas" is a shortened form of ''Horcasitas,'' fro ...

Shoreline

Matia has of rocky cold saltwater shoreline on the

Strait of Georgia The Strait of Georgia (french: Détroit de Géorgie) or the Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the extreme southwestern mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada and the extreme northwestern mainland coast ...

. The tide varies by .

Access

Only of the park with of waterfront are developed for public use. Boating facilities include a pier, one ramp, a moorage float and two buoys. Facility use is first come, first served, with continuous moorage limited to three consecutive nights. Fees are charged year around.

Facilities

Facilities include a loop trail, 6 primitive campsites, a picnic site and a composting toilet. There is no drinking water available and visitors must pack out their garbage. Pets, fires of any type, and wood collecting are not allowed on the island although there is an exception for liquid fuel campstoves.

Activities

Matia offers primitive camping, picnicking, saltwater fishing, scuba diving, limited hiking and clam digging.

Climate

Matia's temperatures are, like much of the

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 ma ...

area, heavily moderated by the abundance of water around it. Typically, the temperature rarely goes above 80 °F (26 °C) or below 30 °F (0 °C). Snow happens occasionally but is rarely of much account. Matia gets about 29 in (730 mm) of rain a year or about 80% of the rain

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 regio ...

gets. Late summer is the local dry season.

References

External links

PI and SJI NWRs Completed Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Wilderness Stewardship Plan
(PDF)
Matia Island State Park
Washington State Parks

StateParks.com {{authority control San Juan Islands State parks of Washington (state) Parks in San Juan County, Washington Uninhabited islands of Washington (state)