The Washington State Hiking Podcast

Best Vashon Island Hikes

• Jennie Thwing Flaming and Craig Romano • Episode 93

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 Welcome to the Washington State Hiking Podcast. I'm your host, Jennie Thwing Flaming, 

and I'm your co-host Craig Romano.

Craig and I are happy to have you here. We provide practical and timely seasonal hiking advice for hikers, trail runners, and potential hikers and trail runners of all skill and ability levels that is helpful, accurate, fun, and inclusive.

 Hey Craig. Hey Jennie. , 

Well, we're doing another, another section around islands.

Yeah. 

Um, we 

got a few of those in Washington. 

Yeah, and we've been talking, you know, recently we talked about Bainbridge and we've been talking about how island hikes are great year round things that feel like a real adventure when like the weather might make. Big adventure is more challenging. Or we have out of town visitors or friends you don't normally hike and we have a day off together and we, or like we just wanna blend hiking with other cool, like an cool day trip somewhere.

You know? These are perfect for that. So let's talk about VASH on Craig. 

Well, I was gonna say, let's, and this is fascinating because, you know, I lived in Seattle for, oh, I dunno, 16 years or so. Um. And I can't tell you how many people that I knew in Seattle that have never been to Vashone Island. 

Yeah. 

Uh, Vashone Island is in King County and it's connected.

To Seattle. 

Mm-hmm. 

West Seattle by a ferry. Mm-hmm. Very quick ferry. Mm-hmm. It's also connected to Kitsap Peninsula and also connected to Tacoma. So there's three ways you can get to it. Um, and 

then there's also the foot ferry from 

downtown Seattle's close over. There's exactly right from downtown Seattle.

Mm-hmm. And I don't know what it is about. Why people haven't made, is it driving out to West Seattle? Is that that complicated? I mean, it was for a while when the bridge was out. It was That's 

true. That's fair. 

Yeah. But what's interesting about Von, you wanna talk about feeling like you're out there because Von is.

I believe larger than Bainbridge has half the population of Bainbridge. Uh, you're not gonna find a McDonald's. There's, there's a McDonald's on, on, um, Bainbridge. There's no McDonald's on, on vash on, there's no Starbucks. There's no, it is really rural. Um. It's kinda like a little hippie enclave in, in, in, in certain plays.

A lot of artists and writers live out there, uh, and for good reason. Uh, so, and it's extremely hilly. I remember the first time I decided I was gonna visit von by bicycle, and you get off the ferry, you're like, oh my God, that's a long bike ride right up that long. Yeah. You know, it's, it's, so, I think Bainbridge is a lot easier than a bicycle.

So, so, so that has a lot to, but there, there is bus service on Von. Yep. So you can just walk on and get on the bus. What I find so, so I've always been intrigued by vash, but the very first time I was there was 30 something years ago, and as a hiker, there really wasn't much, much there as a bicycle was mine.

But what's happened in over the last 30, 35 years is that a lot of former DNR properties now, these are properties that were used mostly for logging. Well, it was not very compatible on a place like VASH on island and, uh, people that lived there. And, you know, in the, in the county society, these, these properties would be far better for the public, not as small logging areas, but as large parks.

And now von has an incredible system of King County parks. So if you're King County resident or your parks, you know, county, county support it. Not only have these incredible county parks. Also they have a wonderful land trust there, the Vian Island Land Trust that has, um, been very, very active in, in securing a lot of properties.

There are a lot of places to hike on Vian Island. 

There are. 

Oh, and why do I know that? Uh, because, uh, I've hiked most of them. I did the research. They're in my Urban Trails Seattle book again, because Vashan is so close to Seattle. So pick up my urban trails. Seattle book. There's an entire chapter on vash on island there.

Yeah. And you have no excuse not to go there. 

And this man, especially in the, obviously that book is great for the whole year, but I find myself, that's one of the many books you've written that I own, Craig, and I find myself picking that one up more often this time of year because it's like. Sometimes it just feels like a lot in the winter to travel somewhere.

Yep. 

You know, I mean, I do that too. I, I like to go out and have a big adventure in the winter, but not every day. 

It's dark at four 30. It's nice 

not to have drive back for hours. Yeah. Sometimes it's like, I need something uncomplicated that will take less time. And so that is a fantastic book. Even even aside from vash, 

if you live in the city, you can, you can just take a, take a bus to the ferry, walk on the ferry, take a bus.

Yep. Some of these parties trails, and if you wanna spend the night over there, there's some Airbnbs and check, there's no, you're not gonna find a Holiday Inn or anything like that over there, but there are places to stay. But here's another thing you can do though, because the ferry. From Tacoma is right next to point of finance park.

Yeah. 

And so you can spend, there's the hotels right there in the waterfront, right. You can spend the night over there. You could stay 

in like point Reston or 

Exactly. Yeah. And then go over to Von for the day from that side. 

That's a 

great 

idea. 

Yeah. Or you could bike from Seattle to Tacoma via Von Island and, and avoid all that craziness that I five in 99.

It's gonna 

be way more fun. Yeah. Way more fun. So definitely. But you know, you're going over hiking if you're a mountain biker. Bring your mountain bike because some of those, uh, county parks have mountain bike trails too. Mm-hmm. Over, and again, it's an area you probably don't think, and one of the coolest things about hiking VA and fashion's hilly.

I, I think we may. Yeah. And some big bluffs. And you're hiking on those bluffs and you're surrounded by forests and you feel like you're in this amazing rural area and you are, yet, you're right across from Sea Tac and the planes are flying down. Yes, yes. And so again, it reminds you, it's like, wow. Uh, I am removed, but I'm not, you know, it's like the Yes.

There's the big city. So it's a part of King County that, um, most 2.2 million people in King County, uh, don't visit. And there's only about 12,000 people of that 2.2 million that live on Vash Island. 

Yeah. 

And here's another little on effect, the largest stretch of undeveloped Puget Sound coastline in King County.

Is on v on Island. 

Cool. 

I didn't know that. It could be in Seattle or Federal way. Those places are all developed. Yeah, bur it's on vash on island. 

That's cool. 

So you can walk four miles of undeveloped beach. 

That's awesome. So, um, Craig, tell us a little bit, tell us a couple of your favorites. So obviously like to get all these awesome hikes, you gotta get this book, but, uh, which once again was Urban Hiking Seattle by Craig Romano.

Available at your favorite independent bookstore, 

right? You could buy this all over, all over Seattle 

area. It it's holiday time. Yeah. Support local businesses, friends. It's so rough out there if you're not a giant corporation. So, okay. Yeah. Sorry for that brief, uh, interlude. No, it's okay. Yeah. So, Craig, tell us a couple of your favorites.

Well, so the Island Center Forest, that was another one of those properties that I, I was a DNR. Um, so originally I've done for logging, but again. Oh, these trees. It was actually, fashion was logged a little more recently than, than, uh, Bainbridge. But, um, but a lot of those, a lot of the forest here is, is now mature, second growth.

There are some small lakes and ponds on this area. Lots of trails there. You know what's even cool? There's even a Craig's Trail. I mean, how can I not like that? I mean, 

right. 

So that is totally cool. It's right next, it's right next to the dump run. I don't know. I, I get no respect here. You know the dump run.

Yeah. And my tail runs into that. Uh, but, um, 

take the Craig Trail to the dump run. 

Take the Craig trail to the dump. 

Inspiring is 

what? It's very, very inspiring. It's how I feel after a long ultra run is I'm just, you know, drop me off. I'm, I'm done. Um, but anyways, it's a wonderful place. It's, it's, um, fairly level for, um, for VASH on island standards because it's kind of up and there.

But if you want some elevation and some coastline, you're gonna wanna head down towards, um, to, um. Island, which, uh, is, it's a separate island. Um, I'm, I'm, I'm, it was separate. It's connected by a causeway now, so you won't notice the difference, uh, there in on, you can drive over there, but that's where you're gonna find two very, very large.

Um. Uh, county parks. You're gonna find the ma island, um, marine park, and then also the, um, doctrine forest and the ma island natural area. And I haven't been over there in a, a little while. I need to get back, but I think I've been doing my, I believe they're connected now. I think there's been some new trails, so I've gotta check.

Uh, the last time I was there was miles and miles of trails. Uh, there you can, you're, you're not gonna see all in one day. Uh, and I believe there is a connection. I, I, I, I need to check in on that. Um, but you've got these several hundred feets of foot bluffs, big bluffs, so you can get some serious elevation.

Uh, 

yeah. 

Oh, we'll work out in here too. And then, and then on a low tide go down, I walk, you know, you can walk the shoreline. It's incredible. And again, you're gonna be looking across the sound and you see the, I mean, planes are coming in 'cause sea tacs right there. But you also, you're gonna see Mount Rainier and all the cascades, especially when you're up on the, on the ridges.

So this is a, a, a wonderful area. Um, to check out. And again, like we've talked about, it's not crowded. Yeah. There's only about 12,000 people that live on v on island. Yep. And, and a lot of people, you, you're just, they're not heading out there in waves. So Yeah. You are gonna have all this area. I've walked these beaches alone.

Uh, again, so think about that being that close to Seattle, having that experience. It's, yeah. It's a very, very trip away 

and nobody who doesn't live on the island hikes on these trails except for you and I. And now you listeners,

it's awesome. 

, And there's some cool historic areas. It was an old college on, on, on ash, on Allen Point some, again, it's another area that reminds me, um. Of New England. It's got that old feeling to it, the stately homes and everything that you're gonna go through.

Uh, so that's why the, that's near Burton in the, in the Burton area. And there's a whole, the Burton acre, uh, park there, there's a wonderful little trail system. It's on this little peninsula there. Um, there's a lighthouse out there. It's, um, not. Not a big trail system, but again, you, you wanna check out all these places and they're, 

one of the trolls is out there by the lighthouse.

One of the trolls is out, is out there. It's true. And, and, um, yeah, we, we should do a thing on the trolls of Washington. We, we, we definitely, we, we, we need to do on the trolls. Um, but also I've mentioned the land trust. The land trust has some wonderful properties. The Judd Creek, uh, loop is a wonderful one, but probably the best, if you wanna check out, um, is the Fisher Pond.

Oh, Fisher. Fisher Pond's good. That's actually not my favorite. Um, definitely worth hiking. My favorite is shingle milk. 

Yeah, 

the single mill one is wonderful. It's another one you're gonna get a workout 'cause you're gonna start up in the center of the island. You're up pretty high and you're gonna follow that creek.

And as the name denotes, there used to be, you know, for a mill at the end. And you're gonna follow all this all the way down to the sound to a little estuary. Um, there's some beautiful, um, mature trees in there. Uh, you're gonna be on this little cove and you won't be looking out at Seattle this time.

You're gonna be looking. Towards the Kitsap Peninsula, an undeveloped area. And again, you're gonna feel like you're so, you're so remote. Um, that's the beauty about Vashone Island. It's incredible that, um, that, that it's this role. And I remember when I moved out here in 89, there were still talks back then about putting a floating bridge across, uh, crazy.

I mean, it's, what's it, eight miles across. Uh, but can you imagine if they had the techno, I'm sure we may have the tech, if we did that, how would it would, it would be Mercer Island. It would change the entire. Um, 

yeah. 

Atmosphere of the place. Yeah. So that's not gonna happen. I, I think even by the tech, there's no way the state's gonna spend the money to put a, you know, a highway across that.

Uh, yeah. And that's a good thing. We don't, we don't, we don't need that. Yeah. So, um, so, um, yeah, short ferry ride, it's a fun ferry ride. Um, and, and you come in from three different directions, so. 

Yeah. Yeah. I think, um. I would not add any new ones to what you said. I mean, those include my favorites too. I, I would say that the Morrie Island Marine Park is like, it's one of my favorite hikes in Washington.

It's a great hike. Yeah, it's a great hike. And you know, it does, it's weird because. It is if you do either like the down and back or kind of that triangle that goes up to the lookout, it's pretty steep. It's steep in like a short distance. So I'm just mentioning that because don't underestimate it. It's like the.

A three mile round trip hike or less, but it, it's very hike when you're going uphill. So we just 

especially 

know that, 

you know, for, for, uh, a coastal hike, you know, we look at a lot of the hikes. Uh, this is a place where you, you actually get some elevation. There's some pretty high bluffs there. 

Yeah. 

I should also mention too, again, uh, history.

If you've been in Washington for a long time, um. Ah, there used to be a large, um, smelter in, in, in rusted. It's all gone now. Mm-hmm. And I remember seeing it and, uh, unfortunately, um, the, the fallout was on FA Island in that area. And so, um, that's been a super fun, a lot of these areas and you're gonna encounter places where you're not allowed to walk, you don't want, and you're still trying to decontaminate Yeah.

A lot of the place. But, but, um, yeah, some interesting history on that. Again, going back, you, you got this rural area and you've got this huge. Smelter across the way. And again, that's, that's all. It's, it's all changed. I mean, things are changing so much, um, uh, in, in the area and, and in this area that was kind of a dead zone, um, yeah, where a lot of these tox and mercury and everything was falling is now being cleaned up.

And now we've got this very, very large, uh, green belt in, in this area that, you know, has been developed and, and won't be developed. And, and, uh, and it's important especially in, in a county of, you know, 2.2 million people, um, if you ask me. We don't have enough parks, you know, we never have enough parks.

Yeah. So, um, so 

yeah, 

Sebastian kind of, uh, overcompensates for our lack of parks in some other places, so 

I totally agree with that. Yeah. One other thing I was gonna just mention about Shingle Mill Preserve, like, you know when you get down there to the water and Fern Cove and there's that like little beach down there.

Yeah. It's really cool. Just a warning, listeners. Every time I've been there, it's been extremely muddy, like rubber boots level muddy 

that Sean is not in the rain shadow. 

Yeah. And you know, I almost always go there in the winter. So just keep that in mind. That trail in particular, that like last little bit that goes down to the water is kind of like half creek, half trail.

So 

yeah. When you ready for, for that? Seattle's kind of somewhat in a rain shadow a little bit. And as you go farther north, not like Everett, but the islands, like Whidby Island, farther north. Part of it is very much rain shadow. Yeah. You're gonna get out. But the southern islands, Bashon, Hartstein, Anderson, those, they're wet.

Uh, they, they, they are not rain shower. So you're gonna, you're def. Your winter hikes, there are gonna be wet and some of those trails, particularly on Anderson and are and Stein are, can flood. So keep that in consideration too and really, really, um, uh, wet periods. Yeah. 

Yeah, totally. Okay, so before we wrap up this episode, Craig again.

You know, this is a place with some awesome little local eateries. Um, 

oh, I, you, I have not taken the time to explore 

all this. What, Craig, you've totally missed out. Okay. 

I know. I'm packing my own goodies in there. 

You know. I know. No, don't do that. Next time you go, 

I gotta buy my goodies there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Okay. So there's lots of great places. I, I wanna just say that, but a couple that like really jumped to mind. One is Snapdragon Cafe. It's a, it's been there for while. Yeah. Bakery. Yep. Um, it's vegetarian so it, but they have the most amazing food. They make these incredible breakfast sandwiches that are like on a giant.

Like scone or biscuit thing. They use lots of local ingredients, like Nice. It's really awesome. They have these enormous cinnamon rolls. They, they just have tons of great stuff. So you better, you better put some miles in after having one of those. Yeah, right. I'll be thousand just on 

the sugar. 

Yeah. And then the other place that's kind of newer, I don't know, last couple years maybe, um, dragon had cider.

Which is a place that makes hard cider on the island. It dragons head cider has been there longer and they have like a, like the, an orchard and where they make their cider and that is only open seasonally, but they have a restaurant. Like in downtown Bason, which means that intersection that is downtown Bason.

Yeah. There really is not like Bainbridge, where you have Winslow, you actually have a little urban right there. Bason is very, very rural. There is no business district, so to say. You're not, yeah. 

Well there's an intersection. 

Well, it's an intersection. 

Yeah, 

exactly. Yeah. 

Okay, so there, so Dragons Head has a restaurant there in town and they have amazing food.

I mean, it's like. More of like sitting down. It's a little bit more expensive, but it's like really worth it as far as like they make a lot of stuff with local ingredients. It's really sort of interesting food. Um, that's really great. And. There's other, you know, the hardware store is a pretty great restaurant.

It's not a hardware store. When you see that, it's like a pub. Um, and then Camp Vos Brewing is like a tap room, but they often 

You spend some time over there. 

I have. And I always eat over there 'cause it's amazing. And I go there a lot anyway. 

Yeah. Nice. 

So that's a place they have lots of outdoor seating, so even if it's winter, you know, if it's a sunny day you wanna sit outside, you can, which is kind of cool.

Anyway. Yeah. So Craig, next time you go. 

Yeah. 

See use time and room in your stomach for 

some. Well, I have to update my book at some point, and I know well that those land trust people have been busy acquiring more properties for me to hike. Yeah. So, which is always a good thing. And, and, and there's new trails also on the, um, the, the county parks and, and again.

That's great. Um, I've said it before, there's, we don't have enough parks. We don't have enough trails. We ever have more. I, I get so excited. It's, it's Christmas every day for me when you go the new trails and parks. Um, so yeah, 

absolutely, 

definitely hope you get out there. And, and also, um, you know, Jennie and I, we, we love doing these podcasts for you.

We're gonna, we're gonna introduce you to even some more islands and more places to go. Do us a favor, if you can please and go to your favorite podcast, um, outlet there and give us a review. Uh, and, and, and we need those reviews because that's how people find us. Yep. Um, and, and let let people know how much you enjoy our program.

So we got other people. Yes. People as, and then also please check out. Jennie's, um, Instagram and my Instagram and, and Facebook. It's Craig Guidebook, author. You can see what we're up to. 'cause a lot of these topics that we talk about on the podcast we also talk about on social media. Yeah. And you could chime in.

Uh, and we're very, very interested in what you. What you all wanna hear us talk about? Which, which topic? And I'm gonna say, Jennie, maybe I am, I might be regretting this. No, topic is, is off, is taboo for us. Whenever you wanna talk about, we'll talk about, is that right? Yeah. I 

mean, I would say as long as it like relates to Washington.

Yeah. It has to, someone is 

like, let's go talk about the llamas of Asia. That's probably out scope 

for us. But if we could connect that to Washington, if there's a 

lot of Yeah, you make the case to us. Yes. For why it's related to Washington hiking and then we're here for it. 

Yeah. If we can make that connection, we will.

Or even if it's not, well, I mean, we do programs on hiking outside the region, uh, from time to time. Yeah. 'cause we know a lot of you, uh, like to venture out too. Yeah. But, uh, yeah, let us know, uh, or, or if there's something going on in the hiking world in another state or area that you think is relevant, um, to, to what we're doing.

I, I tell him, Jennie. I'm gonna be over in this state. Most people don't think about it. I'm gonna be over in Alabama, um, in a couple weeks and Alabama has declared 2025 as the year of the trail. 

Good for them 

now, now Alabama, year of the trail. Yeah. What the, what does that mean? I'll tell you about it and then hopefully we'll get, we'll get Washington to declare year of the trail too, but we'll talk about it another time.

Yes. Yeah. 

I love that. 

Yeah. 

Alright everyone, we'll see you next week. 

Alright. Take care later, Craig. Happy exploring. See you.

 If you are enjoying the Washington State Hiking Podcast, Craig and I would love to have you leave us a rating and a review that helps other people find us. And if you wanna support us financially, you can leave us a tip through the show notes. No account, no commitment, nothing like that. Thank you so much for listening and see you next week.  

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Jennie Thwing Flaming

Host
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Craig Romano

Co-host