Pacific Northwest

Bright morning sun radiating through a cloud in an otherwise blue sky over a Puget Sound seen from the deck of a ferry about to land at Vashon island.

Five Scenic Transit Rides You Can Take in the Seattle Area

Most of my readers and my mailing list are in the greater Seattle area and might have heard the claims about how popular “scenic driving” is along Lake Washington Boulevard (LWB), especially if you are familiar with efforts to provide more space for people walking and rolling along this jewel of the city’s park system. TL;DR: people opposed to re-allocating some space along LWB from cars to use for non-motorized transportation and leisure say that so-called scenic driving is much more popular than activities like cycling — though Seattle Parks’ own data from its most recent survey shows very much otherwise.

Whether or not scenic driving is a thing, or in high demand, the presence across the nation of many so-called scenic byways notwithstanding, I don’t think it’s pedantic of me to note that driving is best an activity one devotes one’s full attention to, given the possible consequences of inattention. Anyway, who wants to split their attention from our region when we’re out to enjoy its natural beauty? Luckily, our transit system doesn’t force people to choose.

Here are a bunch of transit routes in the city of Seattle and the surrounding region that offer high scenic value, so folks can focus their full attention on mama nature, the way she intended all of us to.

Pick a Ferry. Any Ferry.

Short on time? Hop on the King County Water Taxi from downtown Seattle over to Alki and back. Need a personal day or just have a weekend with a lot of free time? Spend a big chunk of it on a leisurely sail on the WSDOT ferry to Bremerton, and combine with a Kitsap Transit foot ferry to Port Orchard and back, and then return. Water, mountains, and maybe some water mammals all await you.

Take Sounder Along the Sound

Hop on the Sounder‘s north route (AKA the N Line) and enjoy some sound-side viewing. The train runs right along the coastline — and I DO mean right along for much of the journey between Seattle and Everett, and you’re almost certain to get up-close views of bald eagles, herons, seals, and even sea otters. Pro-tip: take the early run and return to Seattle on the train. Hall of fame tip: Grab a ticket for an Amtrak Cascades train to Bellingham and back for even more sound-side scenery.

Discover Lake Dell Avenue

Lake Washington Boulevard is indeed a wonderful local destination. While there is an unfortunate lack of bus service along the boulevard — at least right now — when you’re in need of a scenic ride close to home and a bicycle or walk isn’t your thing, hop on King County Metro’s route 27 for a short but sweet jaunt along the lake and a fun, twisty-turny trip up or down Lake Dell Avenue. Take it round trip to downtown and back — the westbound Yesler stretch of the route presents the city and the sound in some of their best light.

Take a Strait Shot

Clallam Transit’s Strait Shot will let you savor the grandeur of the Olympic Peninsula, including breath-taking, soul-refreshing crossings of Agate Pass and the Hood Canal and the soothing expanse of Discovery Bay. Bonus: you get to take the Bainbridge ferry to catch the Strait Shot!

Camano Island

Take Amtrak Cascades to Stanwood, then transfer to take Island Transit (fare free!) Camano route 1 or 2 for marine vistas available as far as the eye can see.

As always, this list is far from comprehensive. Have you got a favorite scenic transit route in the Seattle area? Comment below or use the contact form to tell me about it and I’ll update this post.

Action Alert — Pedestrian Access on the Bridge of the Gods

While house-sitting this week in Hood River, OR, I took the bus to Cascade Locks to check out transit hiking conditions at the southernmost Washington trailhead of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). My assessment? Mixed. And in some cases — decidedly not great. And a lot of that is because you have to cross the Bridge of the Gods over the Columbia River to continue on the PCT, whether you are traveling northbound or southbound.

I did some preliminary digging to see if I could understand why authorities have not done the most minimal separation — simple concrete curbs and a few flex posts? — to afford pedestrians real space while crossing the bridge. I didn’t find the fulll answer to that question, but did find that there is local support for a pedestrian bridge, some preliminary funding and studies were secured, but due to some byzantine federal rules about toll bridges (vehicle drivers pay tolls) the pedestrian bridge addition is on indefinite hold. As I said in my Twitter thread, I don’t know numbers for locals who cross the bridge on foot, but I do know that in 2023 people should not have to walk in a lane of traffic to cross a major river.

Just a couple weeks ago, the Pacific Crest Trail Association published a Call to Action to urge legislators in both Oregon and Washington to fund the bridge. It’s a short read and easy to sign on. Please sign and share.

Graphic with a bus and image of a waterside park. The text explains that King County Metro runs 7 days a week from Redmond Technology Station to St. Edward State Park. The closest stop to the park is 153rd Places and Juanita Drive NE.

For Ride Transit Month I Talked to Move Redmond

Move Redmond advocates for multimodal transportation in Redmond. As part of their Ride Transit Month coverage, I talked to them about Transit Trekker. I also provided a few tips on easy transit trips that can be done from Redmond. You can read all about it in their June newsletter, here. Especially note the clear, friendly graphic treatments they created to highlight the trip itineraries I offered.

Redmond and the eastside in general could use much better local transit service, IMO. That said — Redmond has great access to multi-use trails in the form of the Sammamish River Trail, the soon-to-be re-opened East Lake Sammamish Trail, the developing Eastrail network, and — with a lift from King County Metro route 224 to Duvall — the Snoqualmie Valley Trail, which will connect you to the Palouse to Cascades Trail. That last one you can ride all the way to the WA-ID border from about May to October — hundreds of miles taking in the Cascades, eastern WA semi-desert, and the Palouse. As I write that, I am amazed and grateful all over again to live in a region rich with stunning rail trails. My e-bike is in the shop awaiting repairs (and an e$timate) and I think I’m going to be planning a quick venture along the Palouse to Cascades Trail via the eastside very soon……

The featured image in this post is used with permission of Move Redmond.