Keppel Island

Keppel Island holds the ruins of a mission station set up in 1855 by the Patagonian Missionary Society, which brought Yaghan people from Tierra del Fuego to the island to be taught farming and Christianity, an episode that ended badly and closed in 1898. Stone buildings, a chapel and walled gardens survive. The island is now grazed and holds penguin colonies and a large tussac area. Tussac was replanted across parts of the island in recent decades, and the recovery there is one of the better examples in the group.

What you actually see

• The mission ruins - stone buildings and chapel from the 1855 station.
• The walled gardens - the cultivation enclosures the mission built.
• The Yaghan history - the people brought from Tierra del Fuego to the station.
• The tussac - the surviving stands of native grass on the island.

When to go

October to March is the practical window. Access is by arrangement in any season. Winter weather makes boat access unreliable.

Honest expectations

Access must be arranged privately and there is no regular service. The buildings are unstable and entering them is unwise. There are no facilities on the island.

Nearby

Pebble Island is northwest, and Saunders is west.