6 Day Trips From Bellingham
One of the better arguments for living here is how much you can reach and still sleep in your own bed. These are the six day trips from Bellingham we end up recommending most, to clients who have just moved and to friends who are visiting and want to know what to do with a free Saturday. They are in no particular order, though the last one is the longest drive by a good margin.
1. Mount Baker Wilderness
Mount Baker is the mountain you can see from town on a clear day, and it is about a two-hour drive from Bellingham if you go all the way up. In winter the reason to go is the Mount Baker Ski Area, for skiing and snowboarding. In summer it is the hiking and the wildflowers, and above all Artist Point, where the road ends and you get Mount Baker on one side and Mount Shuksan on the other without having to hike anywhere. That makes it a good one for grandparents, small kids and anybody with a camera.
Artist Point is only reachable in the warmer months, and how long that lasts depends on the snow, so check the road before you drive up with a car full of relatives. If we had one day and people who like being outside, this is the trip we would pick first.
2. San Juan Islands
The ferry leaves from Anacortes, south of here, and the ride is a good part of the reason to go. People do see orcas, seals and bald eagles from the deck, though we would never promise anybody a whale.
San Juan Island is the easy first trip, because the boat lands right in Friday Harbor and the island has the historical sites if that is your thing. Orcas Island is the one to pick for Moran State Park. Once you are out there people kayak, ride bikes, or just wander around the small island towns and look at what the local artists are making. A day is enough to get a feel for one island and nowhere near enough for two, so choose. Check the ferry schedule before you leave the house, since the sailings decide how long your day is.
3. Chuckanut Drive
This is the short one, and honestly it is the one we do most. Chuckanut Drive starts just south of Bellingham, at Fairhaven, and winds along the shoreline with the water and the San Juan Islands off to your right the whole way down. There are parks and trailheads along the route if you want to get out and walk. The road comes out in farm country near Bow and Edison, which between them have galleries, small shops and more good places to eat than two towns that size have any right to.
Go down for lunch and come back the same way. It is a narrow, slow road, so it does not suit anybody in a hurry. We have a page on Chuckanut if the drive gets you wondering what it is like to live along it, and one on Fairhaven, where it begins.
4. North Cascades National Park
The North Cascades get called the American Alps, and when you see them the name makes sense. It is rugged, steep country with alpine lakes and a lot of forest, and the hiking runs from easy to very serious.
If you are short on time or traveling with small kids, the stop to know about is the Diablo Lake Overlook, which you can drive right up to. The lake is a blue-green that looks edited in photographs, and it really is that color. The highway through the park closes for the winter, so think of this as a summer and early autumn trip, and give it the full day.
5. Vancouver, BC
Vancouver is about an hour and a half north, plus whatever the border decides to add. Bring your passport and check the crossing requirements before you leave, because they do change.
The standard first visit is Stanley Park, Granville Island, and the Capilano Suspension Bridge if heights do not bother you. After that it is mostly about eating. Vancouver is a big international city with the restaurants to match, along with the galleries and the shopping, and it is a little strange (in a good way) to be able to do all that from a town this size and be home by bedtime.
6. Leavenworth
This one is a stretch for a day. Leavenworth is a Bavarian-themed village in the Cascades, around three hours each way, so you leave early and get home late, or you give in and stay the night.
It is best known for Christmas, when the town is lit up and very full. The rest of the year there is German food, local wine and beer, hiking, rafting on the river, and wine tasting in the country around it. It is a bit much and it knows it, and we like it anyway.
Closer to home
If you would rather stay in town, we have a guide to Bellingham’s parks and a longer list of things to do in Bellingham. And if trips like these are part of why you are thinking about moving here, Living in Bellingham covers what an ordinary week looks like, and Derek is happy to talk whenever you get to that point.