Point Roberts - Washington’s Pene-Exclave
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David found Lighthouse Marine Park, our Point Roberts’ campground, by accident. Once we crossed the border into British Columbia, we were looking for a place to light for a couple of days. The Walmart in Delta allows overnight parking and there were a couple of commercial RV parks, but the campground he found at the tip of the Tsawwassen peninsula overlooking the Salish Sea looked most promising and interesting. It was only after scratching our heads and trying to figure out why the camp fees were 30US dollars/night, that we had an epiphany. Duh… could Point Roberts possibly be in the USA? Why yes, it could be and surprisingly it was!
After crossing the border into British Columbia to enter Canada, we had to cross the border back into the USA to get to the campground. Once settled into the nearly empty campground, inquiring minds queried ‘why is this little town, totally separated from Washington, U.S. instead of Canadian land?’ It doesn’t make sense.
On a map, Point Roberts looks like this.
Wikipedia states that “Point Roberts is a pene-exclave of Whatcom County Washington on the southernmost tip of the Tsawwassen peninsula, south of Vancouver, British Columbia. The area, which had a population of 1,191 at the 2020 census, is reached by land from the rest of the United States by traveling 25 mi (40 km) through Canada.” Then, of course, we had to look up the definition of ‘pene-exclave’ which simply means territory of one country only reached by traveling through another country. Next question was ‘why?’.
It appears territorial disputes between the UK and USA over the Pacific Northwest American-Canadian border west of the Rocky Mountains (the Northwest Angle) were settled by the Oregon Treaty in 1846. The negotiated treaty acknowledged that the boundary would be the 49th parallel and, you guessed it, the line cut through the end of the Tsawwassen peninsula.
Point Roberts isn’t the only pene-exclave along the Canada-USA border. Campobello Island, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s summer retreat in New Brunswick Canada can only be reached by land through Lubec, Maine and tiny pieces of American land in Lake of the Woods, Minnesota require travel through Manitoba. These pene-exclaves were created by the earlier Treaty of 1818 which again designated the 49th parallel as the dividing line.
Though the town is small, it has lots of amenities including a marina, post office, convenience stores and gas stations which definitely offer gas cheaper than the provincial gas stations, but are still pretty steep at ~$4.60US/gallon. It’s a complicated money conversion since gas is purchased in liters, not gallons and the USD/CAD currency exchange rate fluctuates. In Vancouver, we paid 1.879CAD/liter which was actually a whopping $5.29US/gallon. Interestingly, Canada is mostly on the metric system. Volume by liters, some weights by grams, distances by kilometers, but in the grocery store we buy bananas by the pound, but meat by the kilo. Another head-scratcher.
The county Lighthouse Marine Park is just across the street from the campground. Despite its name there is no longer a lighthouse. Kayak rentals were available, but the boat launch area has fallen into disrepair. The shore is a gravelly beach heavily laden with driftwood at the wrack line.
Herons, gulls and cormorants are among the many sea birds. Harbor seals on the lookout for a snack stick their heads up once in awhile.
We walked the shore and park trail several times seeing something new each time. Informational signs dot the trailside including a sculpture entitled ‘Sunsweep’ which is an international art project by artist David Barr. Carved from a single piece of granite (and cracked during shipping), the rest of Sunsweep is in Minnesota in the Lake of the Woods and on Campobello Island, New Brunswick.
As we moved inland away from the shore, the path was lined with wild roses and brambles. Robins and ravens were the regulars in this area and at the campground.
The camp host, Patricia, lived in Point Roberts for 15 years, but ‘couldn’t take the gray, cold, wet winters any more.’ However, she also noted that she liked living here because “it wasn’t in the USA and it wasn’t in Canada. It was its own little comfortable spot in between.” She and her Welsh corgi, Mr. Darcy, live winters in Arizona now and travel a good portion of the year. She noted that most of the visitors to the park were Canadians and few Americans, so she wondered how we heard about the campground. We had to admit it was totally by accident.
The nearby beachside town of Delta on the other side of border is quite large and offers pretty much everything you could want or need… a Walmart, numerous restaurants, cafes and shops, gas stations, hardware, a library with free internet and more.
We spent three nights in Point Roberts going back and forth over the border… same routine each time, same questions. It was a good respite from the daily travel we’d been doing. Sometimes you just need a vacation from your vacation and time to catch your breath and smell the roses… or, in this case, the sea!
The BC Ferry terminal with service to Vancouver Island and other gulf islands is close, too and we’ll take it in our next blog to get to BC’s beautiful capital city of Victoria. Join us!