Things to Do on Guemes Island, WA to Fill Your Day

Where is Guemes Island?

Guemes Island is an 8 square mile island within the Salish Sea across the Guemes Channel from Anacortes on Fidalgo Island. It’s almost like an island inception.

You can drive to Anacortes then you’ll have have to cross the water by ferry (or swimming) over to Guemes Island.

1. Take the Ferry

While taking the ferry is a necessity to reach Guemes Island, I think it counts as a Guemes experience. 

The small ferry holds about 20-22 cars on the single platform, much like a river ferry in Europe. 

A tenant will come by to your car as you wait in line to board to collect the ferry fares, which is roundtrip. If you are traveling from Guemes to Anacortes, there is no fee. They do not take reservations.

Walk-ons are also allowed. There is an indoor cabin onboard with a row of benches facing each other or you can enjoy the sea wind in your face by standing outside.

The boat ride over is quick but there is still time to get out of your car and enjoy the salty air on your face. You just gotta squeeze between the cars and be careful not to bump your door into the car next to you.

Before you know it, you’ve crossed to the other side. As soon as the boat unloads the return trip loads up and they head back.

The ferry schedule website will show you the time it leaves from Anacortes to Guemes Island. If you are leaving Guemes Island it will be about 10 minutes after the posted departure time.

I got to the ferry about 15 minutes early coming back and got to be first on board. I must say, it was a little trippy sitting in the car with only a fabric “fence” separating me from the ocean.

2. Guemes Island General Store

Guemes General Store is directly across the street from the ferry terminal.  It’s the only retail store, restaurant, and gas station on the island. 

It’s also a place where the community can hang out. When I visited there was a fundraiser happening with live music and a silent auction.

The cafe inside has a case of freshly baked goods. I had to try the cherry Danish puff pastry and unfortunately it was more of a baked bad. The crust was sawdust dry and tasted like a saltine cracker.

If you want to order your food to dine-in, they have an enclosed porch as a dining room or a spacious outdoor patio and yard overlooking the ferry terminal and Guemes Channel toward Anacortes.

There is a small frisbee golf course on the lawn.

There is one gas pump at the front door in case you are desperate to fill up before taking the ferry.

3. Beaches

There are different beaches to explore on all sides of the island, but you need to Google map them because you can’t see them from the roads nor are they clearly marked with signs. Some don’t even have an actual name on the map! 

Kellys Point

A small pullout on the corner of S Shore Rd and W Shore Rd is the only indication that there is something worthwhile here. 

The short trail leads to the beach at Kellys Point. 

While the trail is insignificant, this will forever be known as the trail I almost stepped on a snake. I turned a corner, saw my foot nearly land on top of a 1.5ft long brown snake, and screamed bloody murder. I’m not afraid of snakes, it just really startled me!

Once on the beach, I was able to enjoy the scenery, looking across at Fidalgo Island toward the Anacortes Ferry Terminal.

There are no facilities or amenities here.

Edens Road

This beach is just labeled as “Public Beach Access” on Google Maps. Take Edens Rd to the end on the west side of the island and there is a small parking area adjacent to the beach. 

There is some actual sand here and the view looks across at nearby Cypress Island. There is a row of houses along this beach, so just be respectful of their privacy.

There are no facilities or amenities, it’s just beach.

Young County Park

On the north end of Guemes Island is Young County Park. As you drive in you’ll feel like you are driving into Guemes Island Resort, but just continue on and you’ll arrive at the gravel parking lot for the park.

Here there is an expansive lawn with a couple of scattered picnic tables that overlook the pebbly beach.

Across the water you’ll see Jack Island, a peak of Samish Island, the mainland, and on a really clear day, the tip of Mt Baker.

This would be a good sunrise beach, but when I was there in the early evening, the whole beach was covered in shade as it faces east.

There is an outhouse onsite.

Channel View Drive

This is another “Public Beach Access” without an official name on Google Maps. It took me a couple of drive-bys to find the access as it’s in a neighborhood and wedged between two private properties.

But I saw a faint trail leading into the trees between the properties and also saw a log laying across the trailhead to give it more distinction and a place to park. 

It is a short trail through the trees and it looks like some kids might have set up some of their toys along the trail like a circle of dinosaurs. 

The last bit is very wonky and steep steep stairs leading down to the beach. The rope handrail isn’t very helpful.

But once at the bottom, the beach is sandy (at low tide) and you have a view of Fidalgo Island looking out towards Anacortes and the smoke stack-y refinery.

There are no facilities or amenities here.

4. Hiking Trails

For such a small island, there are some surprisingly good hiking trails on Guemes. The community seems to take walking very seriously here as there are “Keep on Walking” signs all over the island sponsored by Friends of Guemes Island.

Dog Woods

Trail Length: 3 miles
Elevation Gain: 20 feet
Difficulty: Easy

Dog Woods is an easy place to hike with endless combinations to walk the trails. From the parking lot you can choose between 2 different trailheads that break off into various forks in the road but are all interconnected and elaborately looped together. 

This trail is surprisingly diverse with a combination of forest, wetlands, and grasslands. You’ll come across native tree species including Black Cottonwood, Western Red Cedar, and Scouler’s Willow. 

The trail system is part of the Guemes Island Wildlife Corridor, a protected network that supports a variety of wildlife. Bird enthusiasts will enjoy keeping an eye out for species like warblers, snipe, rails, and cedar waxwing. There is also larger wildlife such as deer and coyotes that are commonly sighted during early mornings and late afternoons.

When I was there, a line of unused walking sticks were leaning against a log, left behind by past hikers I guess.

Of course my friend and I had to take one as we walked down the trail, just because! The trail is super flat so they aren’t necessary unless you need some extra support.

There are no facilities or amenities here. 

Guemes Mountain

Trail Length: 2.2 miles
Elevation Gain: 412 feet
Difficulty: Moderate

The Guemes Mountain trail is a moderate hike that has you walking through a forest of  Douglas-fir and western red-cedar trees. The trail is very switchback-y, which makes the ascent manageable and less strenuous. 

There is a resting bench about halfway up if you need a break-with-a-view.

Right before you get to the top the trail becomes steeper for a short stretch before it opens up to a spacious grassy area at the summit. You are then treated to a panoramic view of Canada, Mount Baker, and the San Juan Islands.

Parking for Guemes Mountain trailhead is just a gravel pullout on S Shore Road. There is also a bike rack if you biked here instead.

I love that there are also hiking sticks here left behind for the next hikers at the trailhead.

There are no facilities or amenities here. 

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5. Island Labyrinth

You know that I’m scraping for things to do on Guemes Island when I add the Island Labyrinth to the list. 

Sitting between the Guemes Island Community Church and the Guemes Community Center is a labyrinth in the woods. It sounds delightful and magical, but really, it’s just a hot mess.

A prayer labyrinth is supposed to be a clearly marked, symmetrical, circular maze that you can mindlessly stroll while praying or meditating. 

This labyrinth has you trying to decipher where the path leads due to pine needles covering it and missing outlining stones. Not to mention you have to tread carefully so as not to trip over tree roots.

I do NOT recommend making a stop here.

6. Biking

I saw plenty of bikers taking advantage of the bikeability of Guemes. You can walk on to the ferry with your bike and then pedal across the island at your pace.

While these are backcountry, narrow roads with no shoulders, there is hardly any traffic so bikers do not need to worry about getting run over here. Even I would be comfortable biking on Guemes Island, and I’m not a biker and I’m definitely not one who enjoys biking the shoulders of busy roads.

The island isn’t flat, but it also doesn’t have a ton of hills, so your bike ride will be easy to moderate.

I was surprised to see bike racks at Guemes Mountain Trailhead, but apparently people like to bike then hike on the island. So you can keep that in mind.

If you are visiting in April you should…
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