Emerald Bay is a glacier-carved inlet, about 1.7 miles long. It is part of a 1,533-acre California state park established in 1953. In 1969 it was named a National Natural Landmark.
Down at the shore is Vikingsholm, a 38-room Scandinavian-style mansion built in the summer of 1929 by Lora Josephine Knight. She bought 240 acres in the bay for $250,000. The architect was Lennart Palme, a relative by marriage.
Knight also built a small tea house on Fannette Island. The island has had several names. The first to stick, Coquette, was thought up by vacationers in 1866, and the current name is believed to be a misreading of it.