Wanna hike western Washington’s Cascades & Olympics from Seattle by car? Backpack by Bus!

by Dave McBee

Explore Olympic National Park, North Cascades National Park, and several National Forest Wilderness Areas, and reach them from Seattle by bus! You don’t need a car to access these stunning national treasures. Public lands—public access!

Sure, it takes more work. In most cases, you’ll have to spend at least half a day on buses, and then walk access roads from where the last bus route ends to where the trailhead begins.

As a result, none of the trips mentioned here are single-day hikes. It will take you at least half a day, sometimes the whole day, to get anywhere, so bring your permit, a tent and all your gear, and plan on sticking around for a while.

Why on earth would you do this?

Because you don’t own a car.
It’s cheaper than driving. Most of these trips cost less than twenty bucks each way.
So you don’t have to rent a car—just to leave it at a trailhead, leaking your money, for several days.
It makes it easy to travel point-to-point. Go up one drainage, drop down another—as long as you understand the distances involved, and the bus schedules!
You’re likely to pick up more local color on a bus (as in: Why is the Undie Road called what it is? And what, then, about the Kitchen-Dick Road?... for starters)... and other info about the area you’re traveling through than you ever would find out about in your car.
Okay—the possibility exists that you might just be doing this because you’re crazy. We can accept that.
Oh, yeah—and it’s environmentally friendly, and reduces your carbon footprint!
You may not have heard… but bad people hereabout like to burglarize cars parked at trailheads. You can avoid being a victim—don’t leave them a car!

And why might you NOT do this?

It’s harder than driving. You’ll be lugging your gear on and off perhaps several buses. Sometimes you may have to break camp early to reach to your bus to take you back home.
You’ll usually walk up access roads, even before you get to your chosen trail. And on the way out, too! (But we’ll tell you how long they are. You get to decide.)
If the weather goes to crap, you’re stuck with it until you can get to a bus. If it’s a weekend, and there’s no bus service, you may be stuck there until Monday. (So follow weather forecasts closely!)
Because you’re sane. We can accept that, too.

This site assumes:

You have basic backpacking knowledge and experience.
You are in physical condition equal to the distances, tasks, and rigors involved.
You have all the gear necessary for a safe and successful trip.

You’ll still need to consult your favorite trail book or website beforehand, and take the pertinent topo maps (which are still more reliable than any phone map app). And a compass. Really. We can’t force you; we can only strongly advise you. Tech can fail out there.

We simply show you how to get from Seattle to within walking distance of a whole bunch of really cool, world-class backpacking destinations. We tell you all the walking distances involved (including those before you reach the actual trailhead); start with one that suits your interests and abilities, and go from there!

You might have noticed, if you’ve visited this site before, that we look a lot different than we used to. We regret that we’d allowed certain features to fall out of date. We have eliminated a few chapters that either had very little going for them, hike-wise, or that involved access road- walking such extreme distances that they were just silly. Or stupid. Or completely insane.

We’ve also given up on posting grids of exact times of connecting sequences of buses— because these things inevitably change—and then the carefully laid out charts become obsolete. So we’ve simply posted graphics of the transit systems involved, and the points where they connect. Before you go, check to see what the current schedules are to learn the current exact times, and plan accordingly. Rest assured—these transit systems want to connect smoothly with their neighbors, so they do their best to make it work.

As of January 2022, the world is still very different than it was two years ago. On all public transit, and passing through any transit centers, you will be required to wear a mask. And hardly anyone is offering rides along those access roads (though I did get offered one last summer, and immediately whipped out my mask). Be safe, people.

One benefit of the new national park registration policies is that you no longer have to stop at a ranger station or information center to check in or register—you’ll now do all of that beforehand, online! You make reservations, receive confirmations, and print out your permits— all at home! Then it’s straight to the trailhead! The only thing you could possibly have to do at a ranger station would be to borrow a bear-resistant container (required at almost all national park sites)—go ahead and buy one, borrow one, or rent one from REI.

Happy trails! And the wildlife doesn’t seem to mind if you’re not wearing a mask....

(Here's a Trail Summary List)

N.B. : In response to frequent inquiries...

You cannot get to Snoqualmie Pass, or anywhere near it (Greyhound still crosses the pass, but they do not stop there);
Kennedy Hot Springs is long gone, buried 18 years ago, under acres of rubble 10 feet deep. We know that references to it still exist online and in old guide books—but it’s simply not there anymore!
You cannot take public transit to Mount Rainier National Park..

You may have noticed, if you’ve used our site previously, that the chapter with instructions to reach Packwood and Goat Rocks Wilderness are missing. The bus service from Centralia to Packwood lost their funding, and is now kaput and not coming back. This makes us very sad, as now the bus-user (that’s us!) cannot get anywhere near this wonderful destination. If it ever comes back, in any form, we will post it.