{"id":1367,"date":"2009-05-21T17:10:49","date_gmt":"2009-05-21T22:10:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/?p=1367"},"modified":"2022-08-11T12:28:00","modified_gmt":"2022-08-11T17:28:00","slug":"point-roberts-stranded-by-an-international-border","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/point-roberts-stranded-by-an-international-border\/","title":{"rendered":"Point Roberts &#8211; Stranded by an International Border"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Point Roberts, Washington cannot be reached by land from the rest of the United States. One must drive first into Canada, curve around Boundary Bay, and then cross the border again to re-enter the United States at this remote corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/graphics\/pt-roberts.jpg\" alt=\"Point Roberts. Photo by howderfamily.com; (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>The establishment of a border between the United States and Canada along the 49th parallel cut straight through the bottom tip of the Tsawwassen Peninsula. The stranded southern land on the wrong side of the cut became Point Roberts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d301170.9749233267!2d-123.3074984301822!3d48.98418202419865!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x5485e5ffff02c5fd%3A0x2b6ed49177b716a!2sPoint+Roberts%2C+WA+98281!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1536618229508\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To locate this anomaly on a map, look at the straight-line border between Washington State and the Province of British Columbia. Point Roberts is located just before the zigzag south around Vancouver Island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/graphics\/travel\/washington_point_roberts_park.jpg\" alt=\"Boardwalk and Shelters at Lighthouse Marine Park. Photo by howderfamily.com; (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>All of the photographs on this page were taken along the Strait of Georgia at Whatcom County&#8217;s Lighthouse Marine Park. This can be found at the far southwestern corner of Point Roberts. The wooden structures shown here were part of the park&#8217;s boardwalk facility. Wooden alcoves built onto the boardwalk protected picnic tables from wind or sun. Nobody else braved the elements during our weekday visit to the park. Everyone seemed to be scared away by this cold, blustery wind pushing across the Strait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/graphics\/travel\/washington_point_roberts_beacon.jpg\" alt=\"Navigational Beacon at Point Roberts. Photo by howderfamily.com; (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Lighthouse Marine Park is a bit of a misnomer. There&#8217;s no longer a lighthouse at this location, having been replaced long ago by a functional but unromantic navigational beacon. There is now an effort underway to build a new lighthouse at this scenic spot. It would be a nice addition to an already pleasant seascape. Plus, a lighthouse in place of this beacon would sure make for better photographs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/graphics\/travel\/washington_point_roberts_view.jpg\" alt=\"Straight of Georgia View. Photo by howderfamily.com; (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Point Roberts is supposed to be one of the greatest land-based spots in the region for whale watching. Orca pods swim regularly past the point in one direction or another in their constant search for food. That&#8217;s what they say, anyway. We saw lots of beautiful nautical scenes across the width of the Strait to the San Juan Islands and their Canadian equivalents, but we didn&#8217;t see any whales that day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am so fascinated by strange geography that we actually crossed international borders between the United States and Canada four times in a single day to reach this spot and return.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Point Roberts, Washington cannot be reached by land from the rest of the United States. One must drive first into Canada, curve around Boundary Bay, and then cross the border again to re-enter the United States at this remote corner. The establishment of a border between the United States and Canada along the 49th parallel [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,377,50],"tags":[18,5367,1494,638,547,1495],"class_list":["post-1367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-borders","category-latitude","category-water","tag-border","tag-canada","tag-orca","tag-point-roberts","tag-tsawwassen","tag-whale-watching"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Point Roberts - Stranded by an International Border - Twelve Mile Circle - An Appreciation of Unusual Places<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/point-roberts-stranded-by-an-international-border\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Point Roberts - Stranded by an International Border - Twelve Mile Circle - An Appreciation of Unusual Places\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Point Roberts, Washington cannot be reached by land from the rest of the United States. 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