American Camp at the southern end of San Juan Island preserves the site of the US Army encampment during the Pig War of 1859 — a decade-long border dispute between the United States and Britain that began with a dead pig and ended without a shot fired at any person. The camp itself consists of reconstructed buildings on an exposed bluff above a long beach of driftwood and coarse sand, with the Olympic Mountains visible across the Strait of Juan de Fuca on clear days.
The landscape is open and often windy — this is the dry, rain-shadow side of the island, and the prairie-like grasslands look nothing like the forested north end. The park service maintains short trails through the site, and rangers tell the Pig War story with evident enjoyment. The historic camp buildings, the earthworks from the fortification period, and the civilian homestead sites are all visible and signed.
Beyond the historical interest, the beach below the bluff is good for walking, and the exposed headland provides reliable sightings of bald eagles, red foxes (an introduced population that has been here for generations), and Steller sea lions on the rocks offshore. Getting there requires a car or bicycle — it is about 12 kilometres from Friday Harbor — but the drive down the island is part of the experience.