4 of the Bay Area and Northern California’s odder islands
Treasure Island is famous and Alcatraz infamous, but with 48 islands in San Francisco Bay alone and more in lakes and coves up and down the coast, the Golden State is home to a vast array of wave-lapped hunks of rock. There’s a man-made floating island in the Delta, a Roaring ’20s ruin at Tahoe and an island that’s not an island at all but the last vestige of a drowned town.
Here’s just a sampling of some of the more unusual.
East Brother Island
The light station on this island near the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge was built in 1874 to help ships navigate the Sacramento River. The U.S. Coast Guard automated the station in 1969, but the historic buildings were saved by preservationists. Today, it’s a charming Victorian inn with a fascinating history and five guest rooms. They’re currently looking for new innkeepers, but normally, the island is open for day use on select summer Saturdays as well as overnight stays. Learn more at https://ebls.org/.
Red Rock Island
If you’re hankering to join Richard Branson, Larry Ellison and other celebrities who own their own islands, Red Rock Island goes up for sale every few decades. The 5.8-acre island near the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge was listed most recently by Christie’s International Real Estate, which was looking for a “discerning buyer seeking a truly unique and prestigious trophy investment” with $25 million to spend on the Bay’s only privately-held island. The island has no infrastructure — but the views and bragging rights wooed a mystery buyer last year.
Forbes Island
The “man-made” disclaimer hardly seems necessary for a floating-island-meets-restaurant-campground-venue. Forbes Island has 15 rooms, several grand state rooms and a salon with a grand piano and an English pipe organ. Also, a wine cellar. Did we mention the palm trees, the sandy beach and the lighthouse?
What began with as a Jules Verne- inspired houseboat in the 1980s, an anchor-out moored near Sausalito, soon ran into trouble with the BCDC — the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. By 1999, owner Forbes Thor Kiddoo had turned it into San Francisco’s first-ever floating island restaurant, anchored off Pier 39. And by 2017, it was on the move again, floating up to Brentwood and now the Delta.
These days, it’s a floating campground and event venue moored off Bradford Island, reachable by ferry from Jersey Island and available for day use, overnights and events for 25 to 125 happy campers. Learn more at https://forbesisland.com/.
Fannette Island
Lake Tahoe’s sole island rises from the waters of Emerald Bay on the west shore, where it has been known by names ranging from Emerald Isle to Coquette and — for whatever scary reason — Dead Man’s Island. The small castle-like ruins on top of Fannette date back to the Roaring ’20s, when philanthropist Laura Knight, who built her Nordic-inspired home, Vikingsholm, on the lake shore, decided she wanted a nice little spot for afternoon tea too. The island’s rustic stone structure was built in 1928-29 and used by Knight and her friends as a tea house.