San Juan Islands Bike Tour
Just completed the San Juan Islands tour in Washington. Great planning, support, and the float plane charter back to Seattle was awesome!
Exceptional guides have knowledge of the area and provide the best experience possible. If you want a true cycling vacation, sign up, have fun, and go with the flow!
My only job was to eat and pedal and take photos. I am not a super-experienced biker, but with a some preparation, our trip in the San Juans was perfect. I cant wait to go back!
Beautiful scenery. A true adventure tour including biking, hiking and kayaking. Great guides and support. Delicious food. A great vacation.
Amazing guides and perfect rides! Wonderfully pampered and physically challenged, I feel like I picked the perfect company and location!
Travel+Leisure Magazine calls the San Juan Islands “a place out of time.” Bike pastoral roads and beside sparkling waters. Hike through an ancient forest. Spend a half-day kayaking coastal waters with naturalist guides. Experience the very best of life on the Salish Sea. Top it off with award-winning lodging and fresh island cuisine. Conde Nast Traveler named Friday Harbor (where you’ll spend a good bit of time) one of the Most Beautiful Towns in America. And Fodor’s Travel Guide trumpets, “You won’t find a nicer place to ride than these islands in the Pacific Northwest’s Puget Sound.” At the end of your tour, we get you back to your hotel without needing additional shuttles or having to battle Friday afternoon traffic. Just hop aboard our chartered float plane (included with your trip) for a spectacular flight over the islands straight back to Seattle!
Itinerary
Day 01
Explore Fidalgo Island, then hop aboard a ferry to sail away to Lopez Island.
Meals
– Lunch
– Dinner
Lodging
Edenwild Inn
Distance
29 miles
Elevation
+1316 ft / -1145 ft
Meet us in Seattle for a complimentary van shuttle north to Anacortes, on Fidalgo Island. Ride along the shores of Padilla Bay. Contemplate nature’s horizons against the skyline of industry as flocks of birds from the wildlife refuge circle a neighboring oil refinery. Our first ferry of the day takes us to Lopez Island. Ride to Spencer Spit State Park, Fisherman Bay and Lopez Village, the heart of Lopez. Spend two nights in pampered luxury at the historic Edenwild Boutique Inn. Their fresh, gourmet breakfasts and convenient location make it a top choice for an island getaway!
You can read more about the Washington Ferry System here: http://www.wsdot.com/ferries/
Day 02
Ride around Lopez Island. Enjoy stops at Agate Beach and Watmough Bay.
Meals
– Breakfast
– Lunch
– Dinner
Lodging
Edenwild Inn
Distance
38 miles (or less, or more)
Elevation
+2,171 ft / -2,174 ft (or less, or more)
Explore Lopez Island today with no ferries to catch! Lopez is the least hilly, most rural, and least populated of the three main San Juan Islands. It’s also considered the ‘bicyclist’s island’ for its quiet roads, gentle terrain, spectacular marine vistas, and friendly residents who wave as you bicycle past. Ride counter-clockwise around the island. Listen to the sound of the waves gently stirring the rocks on the shore at Agate Beach before continuing on to Watmough Bay (watch for seals!). This is a great day for views of the Olympic Mountains and looking ahead to some of the places you will explore this week.
Day 03
Ferry to Orcas Island then hike or bike to the summit of Mt. Constitution, highest point in the islands.
Meals
– Breakfast
– Lunch
Lodging
Earthbox Inn
Distance & Elevation
Mt. Constitution hike – Short and easy or up to 4.3 mi · +2300 ft
Mt. Constitution ride – 11.1 mi · +/- 2,001 ft
Take a short Washington State Ferry cruise to Orcas Island, the largest and most mountainous of the San Juans. Shuttle (or pedal) to Cascade Lake at Moran State Park. Hike through the last remaining old-growth forest in the islands up to the summit of Mt. Constitution, the literal high-point of the San Juans! Prefer to ride? Challenge the switchbacks on the road to the top of “Mt. C” instead of hiking the trail. It’s one for the books! Either way, your reward at the top is a marvelous view of the Olympic and Cascade mountain ranges with the emerald archipelago flung out wide below. Ferry to San Juan Island where the Earthbox Inn will be our home for the next three nights. Enjoy dinner on your own in Friday Harbor.
Day 04
Kayak to Turn Island with San Juan Kayak Expeditions.
Meals
– Breakfast
– Lunch
– Dinner
Lodging
Earthbox Inn
Kayak the calm waters of Puget Sound and the Salish Sea today. Our sister company, San Juan Kayak Expeditions, will provide two-person ‘yaks, guides and instruction. Spend today watching and learning about the abundant bird and marine life along the rocky, tree-lined shore of San Juan Island. Stop at charming and diminutive Turn Island for a picnic lunch and the opportunity for a nice 1-mile walk around the circumference of the island. After kayaking, stroll about Friday Harbor, go for a pedal, visit the Whale Museum, or take in the Art Gallery before we gather for a fabulous dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in the islands!
Day 05
Bike to Roche Harbor, American Camp, Cattle Point and historic Lime Kiln State Park for whale-watching.
Meals
– Breakfast
– Lunch
– Dinner
Lodging
Earthbox Inn
Distance
43 miles (or less)
Elevation
+2999 ft / -3001 ft (or less)
Bicycle the serene shores of San Juan Island today, enjoying open farmland and marine vistas from quiet country roads. Visit historic Roche Harbor and stop by English Camp – a national historic park that was once part of the “Pig War” between England and the United States. Have lunch at Lime Kiln State Park, one of the best orca (‘killer’) whale-watching spots in the country. Tour heavenly scented lavender fields en route to the American Camp Visitor Center and the Cattle Point lighthouse on your way back to town. Savor views of the Olympic Mountains across the Strait of Juan de Fuca. On a clear day you can see all the way to Mt. Rainier – 125 miles! Dinner tonight will be at the acclaimed Coho Restaurant.
San Juan Island loop – 43.2 mi +2999 ft / -3001 ft (or more, or less)
Day 06
Pedal around Pear Point before enjoying a scenic, traffic-free, float plane ride back to Seattle!
Meals
– Breakfast
Distance
Pear Point: 6 miles (up to 10 mi)
Elevation
+339 ft / -368 ft
After breakfast in Friday Harbor, pedal a casual loop around Pear Point, just outside of town. In the afternoon, bypass the infamous Seattle gridlock – on a Friday afternoon, no less! – and return to the “big city” in style via a chartered float plane. Marvel at birds-eye views of Puget Sound, the Cascade Mountains, and Olympics as you soar over and past the traffic. Have a waterfront lunch on your own on the shores of Lake Union in downtown Seattle before meeting the van to take to your flight or your hotel.
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Plan a fun pre- or post-tour escape to Washington’s national parks.
Our Sister company, Evergreen Escapes, offers small-group day tours to Mt. Rainier, Olympic National Park, and Mt. St. Helens that provide a great way to see a little bit more of the Evergreen state before your bike tour begins, or after you’re out of the saddle.
Escape your every day and explore the wonders of the PNW!