When BhamByBus started sketching out ideas for transit-accessible hiking destinations in and around Bellingham, Lummi Island piqued our curiosity. The Whatcom Transit Authority's Route 50 (Downtown to Lummi Nation) terminates near the Lummi Island Ferry at Gooseberry Point. But once you make the ferry crossing, there's no transit service on the other side to access the Lummi Island Heritage Trust trails on the southern end of the island, including the Inati Trail on the Aiston Preserve and the Lummi Peak Trail on the Baker Preserve.

In the case of the latter, it's about 2.3 miles on foot from the ferry dock to reach the trailhead before a 6-mile out-and-back hike to ascend Lummi Peak (~1,500 ft). So for those living car-free in Bellingham, it's yet another closeby-yet-so-far (by transit) destination. 

However, for a few weeks each spring, there is transit service on Lummi Island when Whatcom County's Whatcom Chief car and passenger ferry goes into drydock for annual maintenance. During the drydock period, a passenger-only ferry is brought in to connect Lummi Island with the mainland and on the island, a special shuttle van service running on separate north and south island loops, stopping at the aforementioned trailheads and other points of interest.

The drydock period can shift depending when there's shipyard availability and this year, the annual Whatcom Chief's annual maintenance period started May 18. Regular ferry service anticipated to resume this Saturday. So there's not much time left in 2024 to head out to Lummi to try out the island's special van shuttle. If BhamByBus had planned better, an island excursion would have happened already. (Perhaps next year.)

Granted, the special van service is primarily designed to help island residents to get around and reach the Whatcom Chief's passenger-only ferry replacement and save fuel during the drydock period. With no gas stations on Lummi Island itself, islanders have to go to the mainland to fill up, which isn't possible during the drydock period.

The Lummi Island Ferry's Dry Dock Van Schedule ends when the Whatcom Chief ferry is back in service, expected Saturday. (via Whatcom County)

As the van shuttle map notes: "The van is for the islanders' convenience." So it's not envisioned to function like San Juan Island Transit, which does a good job connecting Friday Harbor to the top visitor destinations on the island, including the Pelindaba Lavender Farm, Lime Kiln Point State Park, and San Juan Vineyards, with hop-on, hop-off schedules designed to support tourist itineraries.  

But the special springtime Lummi Island van shuttle service does provide an intriguing model for how some limited transit could potentially serve the islanders and visitors. 

However, compared to San Juan Island, which has nearly 18,000 residents, Lummi Island has a much smaller population, less than 1,000. So the Lummi Island community doesn't have much infrastructure to support tourism.

BhamByBus assumes that many islanders are quite content with the status quo and aren't clamoring for year-round transit service. A mostly car-free island, however, sounds pretty nice though for a few weeks.