Mother Nature's aqueous masterpieces - tranquil channels, shimmering harbors and pristine bays - provide the stunning backdrop for a Backroads family adventure on Washington’s San Juan Islands. On bike and foot, follow corridors of trees past sheltered inlets and coves, and over rolling green mountains. Sleek kayaks allow you to navigate peaceful bays, where harbor seals, great blue herons and sea stars make their home. Shop in galleries featuring the work of local artists, feast on the freshest catch of the day, soak in the magical sunsets and kick back fireside beneath the stars - it's all part of life on the San Juans.

TOWERING TREES AND WATER VIEWS: Deluxe Camping

Moran State Park Campground (1 night): Our campsite is near the shore of tranquil Cascade Lake - a great spot for a refreshing dip.

Spencer Spit Campground (2 nights): Set out in the sound on the slender spit, this campground offers stunning vistas over the water.

Lakedale Campground (2 nights): Surrounded by 50 acres of lakes, this site offers a private beach for swimming and a large grass area for games of all kinds.

Daily Mileage Options & Cumulative Elevation Gain

Day 1

• Levels 1 to 3  2 Route Options Available
• Hiking 1.5, 4.5 miles
• 500 - 2000 feet elevation gain

Day 2

• Levels 1 to 2  4 Route Options Available
• Walking 1.5 miles
• 0 - 500 feet elevation gain
• Biking 4, 16, 19 miles
• 0 - 500 feet elevation gain 
•  Wildlife Watching Cruise 3 hours  

Day 3

• Levels 1 to 2  3 Route Options Available
• Biking 11, 18, 23 miles
• 0 - 1000 feet elevation gain

Day 4

• Level 1  3 Route Options Available
• Biking 5, 9 miles
• 0 - 500 feet elevation gain
• Hiking 3 miles
• 500 - 1,000 feet elevation gain

Day 5

• Levels 1 to 3  4 Route Options Available
• Biking 11, 16, 26, 31  miles
• 500 - 1000 feet elevation gain
• Sea Kayaking 3 hours

Day 6

• Level 1 1 Route Option Available
• Biking 6 miles
• 0 - 500 feet elevation gain

On this Family Trip, our routes follow gentle terrain. Liberal van shuttling is incorporated into the itinerary to facilitate our activities and mileage is kept moderate to enable you to spend more time exploring on your own.

Trips For All Abilities

Every Backroads trip is designed to appeal to a wide variety of interests and fitness levels. We know your pace may vary from one day to the next-and your traveling companion's may differ somewhat from yours. So we present a range of mileage options, and each day you decide exactly what and how much you want to do.

Activity Level	Average Time	Average Distance
		Biking	Walking & Hiking
Level 1	2-3 hours	10-20 mile	2-5 miles
Level 2	2-4 hours	21-30 miles	5-7 miles
Level 3	3-5 hours	31-40 miles	7-9 miles
Level 4	4-6 hours	41-55 miles	9-11 miles
Level 5	5-7+ hours	56-75+ miles	11-13+ miles

2009 DATES

FAMILY TRIPS

• 6/8-13Price: $1898 pp dbl. occ., (+ $0 for sgl. occ.)
• 6/15-20Price: $1898 pp dbl. occ., (+ $0 for sgl. occ.)
• 6/22-27Price: $1898 pp dbl. occ., (+ $0 for sgl. occ.)
• 6/29-7/4Price: $1898 pp dbl. occ., (+ $0 for sgl. occ.)
• 7/6-11Price: $1898 pp dbl. occ., (+ $0 for sgl. occ.)
• 7/13-18Price: $1898 pp dbl. occ., (+ $0 for sgl. occ.)
• 7/20-25Price: $1898 pp dbl. occ., (+ $0 for sgl. occ.)
• 7/27-8/1Price: $1898 pp dbl. occ., (+ $0 for sgl. occ.)
• 8/3-8Price: $1898 pp dbl. occ., (+ $0 for sgl. occ.)
• 8/10-15Price: $1898 pp dbl. occ., (+ $0 for sgl. occ.)
• 8/17-22Price: $1898 pp dbl. occ., (+ $0 for sgl. occ.)
• 8/24-29Price: $1898 pp dbl. occ., (+ $0 for sgl. occ.)

Reserve early for the best available price. Prices may change during the course of the year--if they do change, the best prices are available earlier. Once you book your trip, your price is guaranteed.

Recommended Kids Ages

Minimum Ages:

Recommended minimum age for the trip: 3 years

Minimum age restriction to kayak: 6 years

Minimum age restriction to ride own bike: 9 years

General Info on Minimum Ages:

We strongly encourage families to join our Family Trips, designed with kid- and adult-friendly features. Please note that we have a minimum age requirement of 1 year for all Inn trips and 2 years for all Camping trips. Other than that, we do not restrict trips to a minimum age except in the rare case of a hotel age restriction. We do, however, recommend minimum ages based on the following criteria:

• 12+ cultural appreciation, difficulty of activities and route
• 9+ difficulty of activities and route
• 6+ several long adult dinners; parent may not be able to pull a Burley and/or there may be multiple activity restrictions
• 3+ riding is on bike paths, making it great for young kids; Burley and Piccolos are available; there are few or no activity restrictions; and no long dinners (or we offer alternatives)

Please note that a trip may feature an activity with an older age requirement than the minimum age recommendation for the trip. Younger kids are still welcome on the trip and while they will not be able to participate in the activity, the leaders will suggest an alternate activity. For safety reasons, children under 7 may not ride their own bikes and are required to ride on a Piccolo or in a Burley. For certain destinations, children must be 9 or older to ride their own bikes.

Guest Trip Reviews

This was the best family trip we have taken! We all thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it and were sad for it to end. We are afraid that if we go on another Backroads trip it couldn't possibly be this good! The families were a good mix and the leaders were so amazing and cohesive. The San Juan Islands are so beautiful and we were lucky to have perfect weather.

Sharon McGuire - Delray Beach, FL

This was my best vacation ever! The San Juan Islands are spectacular. Seeing their beauty close up and 'out there' was so much better than viewing from a car or bus. The biking, hiking, and sea kayaking were perfect. They and the other members of our group made this trip so much more than a typical vacation. We learned a great deal about the San Juan Islands from the leaders and had great fun doing it. I would recommend this trip to anyone! Our leaders worked great together and had as much fun as we did. Their personal touches topped off this trip, from playing wiffle ball with the kids and Backroads 'Survivor' at the campsites to their deep knowledge of the San Juans.

Barry Kraus - Clearwater, FL

We had an exceptional vacation! The fact that it was a camping vacation resulted in many more opportunities for "spontaneous fun" for the kids, and the guides definitely facilitated and promoted those opportunities. In general, the guides worked fantastically together - they were a wonderful group that did everything they could to make our vacation as enjoyable and memorable as possible. When you add that kind of dedication and service to such a remarkably beautiful location, the result is an absolutely awesome vacation.

Debora Rodriguez - Irvine, CA

This was one of my all-time favorite family trips. Everyone in our family had an awesome time and I can't remember one spat between any of our three children during the whole week, which is a rarity with siblings. Each of our children gained self esteem with each hill they biked and with the praise and guidance of our great leaders! The children (aged 8,11,14) were given enough independence to feel really cool, while actually being well mentored and well cared for! It is the first time that neither my husband (an attorney in a high-pressured law firm) nor I (a physician) went a week without calling, or even thinking about “the office” or my patients. We have never been both so active and so relaxed, so in the wilderness (well, not really) and so pampered. Thank you!

Ellen Frauenthal - Atlanta, GA