Anderson Island is the southernmost island in Puget Sound and a census-designated place in Pierce County, Washington, lying south of McNeil Island and west of the Key Peninsula. It is accessible only by water, with the Pierce County Ferry providing a roughly twenty-minute crossing from Steilacoom, or by private boat. The island covers about 7.75 square miles and is home to roughly 1,400 year-round residents, a population that swells in summer as seasonal owners and visitors arrive. The island's character is rural and wooded. Three lakes stocked with bass and trout, saltwater beaches, and forested trails define the landscape, and the Riviera Community Club serves as the social and recreational center, offering members a golf course, restaurant, marina, tennis and pickleball courts, and lake parks. Public spaces such as Andy's Marine Park, a spit sheltering a tidal lagoon, add shoreline recreation available to all. Commercial development is minimal, so residents handle most shopping and services on the mainland. The ferry shapes island life. Students attend Anderson Island Elementary School on the island, then ride the ferry to Steilacoom for middle and high school within the Steilacoom Historical School District. Commutes, errands, and appointments are scheduled around the ferry schedule, a tradeoff residents accept for the island's quiet, natural setting and its proximity to the Tacoma-Seattle region. The island's out-of-the-way character has even made it a quiet footnote in film history, with scenes from the movie WarGames shot there. Anderson Island suits those seeking genuine Puget Sound island living, with community amenities and a manageable mainland connection, in a place that remains far more forested and unhurried than the urbanized shore across the water.