Transit Trekking

Now There’s A Transit Trekking Resource Page

Photo of one of my filing bins with brown file folders labeled with various Washington state regions.
Not shown: a lot of stuff that belongs filed in these folders.

I’ve found some jewels that make identifying transit-accessible hiking and other outdoor exploration around the U.S. much easier and compiled them in this resource page. It lives in the main site navigation but I thought I should highlight here.

For now, it’s super simple, in an alpha list by state. Canada welcome, too — I know B.C. transit-accessible outdoor opportunity abounds just north of me here in Seattle.

Every time I update the resource page to add a new find, I also update a corresponding spreadsheet in hopes of someday creating a simple search tool on here.

In the meantime, if you know of a comprehensive resource for your region, be it city, state, county, or province, let me know using the contact form and I’ll add it. Generally I am looking to add resources that provide many options versus a single long trail, although I’ve made some initial exceptions to that in this early stage. For example, I included Boston’s Walking City Trail because I don’t know of other resources in that area (a major city in New England) and it’s a pretty long trail, and included the SF Crosstown Trail because it connects to a ton (a full ton! I weighed them) of other regional trails.

If you’re aware of a central source of transit hiking/trekking/transit to trails info that the resource page aspires to be, I’d love to know about it. Get in touch.

An beach with a large driftwood log wedged into the sand and a bluff of conifers to the left.

Surf Report and Survey

I mentioned I’ve been making a point of writing trip reports over at the Washington Trails Association (WTA) site. I had to run some errands in Port Townsend the other day and so had some time to check out a short beach hike. Here’s the trip report.

Pro-tip for transit trekkers planning a day trip from Seattle or Edmonds: You don’t have a ton of time if you want to make use of the Kitsap Fast Ferry–Kingston Express or Edmonds-Kingston ferry combo. Two things you can do:

1 — Help solve that schedule dilemma by letting Jefferson Transit know you’d love increased frequency – earlier or later runs – to make visits easier. Take their survey here. I checked all the boxes for more service all the time. Unrealistic at current funding levels but there’s no reason to not ask. Be sure to use the comment box at the end of the survey to say thanks, and tell them if you think you would be more likely to use the Kingston Express if there were more frequent connections and if there was at least one earlier and one later Kingston Express run so a day trip would not require being quite so conscious of time.

2 — For Seattle-based folks, you can enjoy a longer day trip by taking the Jefferson Transit route 7 to North Viking Transit Center and catching the Kitsap Transit 390 to the Bainbridge Ferry. **UPDATE: Mutual Nick S. notes that it is quicker to transfer to Kitsap Transit 301 to Bremerton, which arrives in time to catch the fast ferry back too Seattle.** Also for your consideration: is there really ever an off-season for visiting Port Townsend? I personally don’t think so, but there are some fairly reasonable lodging options in town during the official off-season to allow an overnight (or longer) visit. NB that many are in old hotels that have not been retrofit for any kind of mobility access in mind. Some of the contemporary motels near the ferry terminal should be more accessible and also have decent rates.

Another pro-tip: when the tides are low enough (and you WILL want to consult tide tables), you can extend a hike from Point Wilson all the way to McCurdy Point, about 4 or 4.5 miles west, with an option to exit the beach at North Beach County Park, where you will still have access to Fort Worden State Park trails.

Note! This post was edited a bunch of times shortly after I initially published it to clean up all kinds of little errors, clarify a few points, and add that last bit about McCurdy Point.

Two shoe prints in beach sand. One large and one small, presumably a child's print.
Juvenile and adult shoe prints in wet beach sand belie the recent presence of humans near Point Wilson
A lone, leafless tree backed by a small lake and mountains at dawn.

Two High-Impact, Low-Effort Ways to Support Transit Trekking

I’m out of office so I’m scheduling a few quick posts for while I’m away. Here are two easy things you can do that have lots of potential to spur support for transit trekking and improved transit overall.

Talk About It.

Whenever you travel for recreation, be sure to mention that you either came by transit or that you would like to. This is especially important to mention to smaller, local businesses when you’re visiting smaller communities in predominantly rural areas. These are the folks that are likely to have the ear of electeds and other decision makers, and if the small business community hears it enough, they are more likely to make sure that electeds know. I will write more about this in The Transit Trekker Manual, but if you are able to work in language about how the people in the area who depend on transit also deserve more frequent transit service, great.

Review It.

Write reviews of your trips in All the Places, and mention if you came by transit, bike, etc. and include a few details. Didn’t come by transit but know a place can be reached that way? Mention it. I have started doing this with my trip reports for hikes over at WTA. Here’s a recent one for a day hike at Rattlesnake Ledge. When I visit restaurants or stay in private campgrounds or motels or wherever while I’m on a Transit Trek, I will mention how bike-friendly or transit accessible that place is. TripAdvisor. TikTok. Yelp. Like I said: All the Places.

These are small but potentially powerful ways to show key people — small biz owners, outdoor advocacy organizations, and other travelers — that transit-based recreation is not only possible, but in demand.