Suggestions on Route From Bellingham to Edmonds Ferry Dock
 

Folks:

I don't know if this topic has been bashed about here in this forum previously or not, but I am planning a trip in the spring from Bellingham to Seabeck on the Hood Canal.

The route from Kingston to Seabeck seems to be simple (104 to 305 to 3 to Newberg Hill Road to Seabeck Road) and seems to be a no-brainer.

However, I am struggling for routing between the southern end of Chuckanut Drive (where it meets Bow Hill Road) to the Edmonds Ferry Terminal.

Looking at maps for routes (obviously not on I-5, which I think is illegal as well as not pleasant), I am seeing myself taking Bow Hill Road to Edison; getting on Farm to Market Road to where it meets SR 20 near Whitney, where it turns into Best Road south of SR 20.

That part I have already done and I am comfortable with it. In the past, I would go West to Whitney and then down to La Conner.

I have not gone south of SR 20 on Best Road.

I am guessing that traveling on Best Road should be similar to Laconner Whitney Road.

On maps, I see Best Road turning into Fir Island Road into Conway. Passing through Conway on the Amtrak Bus once (while it was on I-5) it seems to be fairly light traffic and not much different than my previous bike ride the La Conner.

Is this true? Has anyone gone from Bellingham to Conway by way of Best?

In Conway, it appears I would want to take Pioneer Highway south to East Stanwood. Can I assume that Pioneer would be similar to Best Road going into Conway?

In East Stanwood, I would see myself jig jogging slightly west through that town and getting on to Marine Drive.

Since I cannot see Marine Drive from I-5 nor Amtrak (which I take down to Seattle often); I have absolutely no idea what Marine Drive is like.

It appear that Marine Drive takes me clear down to Marysville, where it crosses I-5 and intersects with SR529, which appears to go over a bridge into Everett.

There is where I need help.

First of all, what is Marine Drive like between Conway/Stanwood and Marysville? If it sucks, what alternative can I use?

Now, how in heck do I get from Marysville through Everett to something that would get me to Edmonds without losing (a) my life and (b) my sanity? Is it Evergreen, which mutates to Pacific Highway (SR99)?

Or am I best to skip the whole Marine Drive to Everett route and use the Centenial Trail (which I have ridden before)?

Taking the Centenial; it would take me to Snohomish, but now I have no clue on how to get from Snohomish to the Edmonds Ferry Terminal.

I plan this trip sometime in Spring/Summer; now now in the Winter.

I am asking this question now because I am making plans for a multiple day trip to Seabeck and am trying to see how viable it is to do it by bicycle.

Thank you all.

Respectfully yours

Mark Allyn
Bellingham, Washington

Use the web Luke:

- Strava Global Heatmap will show you roads that are most ridden by cyclists.
- Google Maps street view allows you to see the roads close up to judge what riding conditions are like.
- Google Maps has a cycling layer that shows roads that have bike lanes or are bike friendly.

I like the Centennial Trail. Once you get to Snohomish take the Lowell Snohomish River Rd. to S. Everett and then you have several options to work over to Mukilteo Blvd. which will take you right down to the Ferry dock. Strava Global heatmap shows the routes that most people ride.

Good luck.

[On edit: I see you want to get to Edmonds Ferry not Mukilteo. That's harder. Same tools apply but I cannot help you with a route. Good luck]

Easy to get to the edmonds dock from Everett. Take the interurban trail, which starts roughly at the Everett Mall all the way to 212th (the bike lanes disappear after a while but i've never had a problem), which will take you, with a slight jog onto Main St at the traffic circle, right to the ferry dock.

Now, the part I don't know is the route between Lowell-Snohomish river rd and the everett mall, because I've never ridden that way. There's some direct routes that don't look toooo bad (Broadway) but I've never ridden them, so I can't say for sure. Also, fair warning, right around the everett mall i'm usually sidewalk riding but it should just be a block or two until you hit the trail

Whenever I've traveled with my bike, I use Ride With GPS to see the most popular routes that local riders have uploaded. Perhaps that can help you plan parts of your route?

here's a map that ought to be of some help if you opt for the Centennial Trail / Interurban Trail: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/26698763

The other option, through Stanwood, is shorter and kind of fun but you have to either ride a nasty highway into Everett or wander around through Marysville. Here's a map with that route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/26698776

There are several other ways to cut across to the Centennial Trail - I often ride Norman Rd. and go through Sylvania - and you can find several routes from Snohomish over to the Interurban but the ones I plotted out are probably the most commonly ridden.

I live in Everett and ride to both Arlington and Seattle pretty regular. I recommend finding your way to the Centennial trail, South to Snohomish and West across the "Lowell Snohomish River Road" to Everett. If you party up the hill from the river road it turns into 52nd Street Southeast, which intersects Interurban. (I'd guess it's only a 1/3 mile once you start up the (steep!) hill from the valley floor.)

Interurban is broken up, a mixture of dedicated trails along PUD power lines, and surface streets - infuriating if you don't know the way. (It took me a few trips to/from Seattle to sort it out.) You'll definitely want a GPS or something to save yourself a bunch of grief.

When I ride from Everett to Marysville, I cross the valley to Snohomish, up Centennial to Lake Stevens, and West on reasonable roads. I rode on 99/529 once from Marysville to Everett. Only once. I don't see how people do it, cars are traveling at 60+, several sections of the road have absolutely no shoulder. If I go directly between Everett/Marysville, my bike and I hop a bus, it's only like 3-4 miles from N. Everett to S. Marysville.

I have ridden South straight from Mt. Vernon once, essentially paralleling I-5 on surface streets as much as I could. It was not an enjoyable ride.

John

Come to think of it, if you bug me close to your travel date, I'd be happy to lead you through Everett to Edmonds. I live about 5 minutes from where you get on Interurban at 52nd.

Johnje:

Thank you for the offer. Right now, it appears tentatively that the trip may be in August.

Mark

I've occasionally ridden parts of it in the summer. It will be a nice trail for a mile or two, then abruptly end at a residential street and start again half a block to one side or the other. There are usually signs but they're not obvious at all. So I'd like to second this.

Sorry that I can't give any specific advice about B'ham to Edmonds. :(

The RSVP ride route does something close to what you're looking for, but in reverse. I've done RSVP a couple times and I liked the route.

ridewithgps.com/routes/17285296

To connect from the Burke-Gilman to Edmonds there are a lot of options. A direct but high-car traffic route is Perkins Way -> 185th -> Richmond Beach Road -> North into town.