King County

King County is the largest county in Washington State by population, home to roughly 30% of the state's residents. It stretches from Puget Sound to the Cascade Range, encompassing the major cities of Seattle and Bellevue and their sprawling suburbs, as well as wide stretches of rural farmland and uninhabited mountain terrain.

Cities

Ships on Puget Sound with the Cascade Mountains

• Seattle — the seat of King County and the Pacific Northwest's largest city, with an extensive range of attractions

The rest of the county is described by its location relative to Seattle and Lake Washington.

North King County

Largely upscale suburbia, heavily residential.

• 1 Bothell — commercial center of the north county
• 2 Shoreline — a northern suburb of Seattle that is home to Kruckeberg Botanic Garden
• 3 Woodinville — the center of the Washington wine industry

East King County

Better known as the Eastside, this is the fastest growing region in the county.

• 4 Bellevue — the second largest city in King County and Seattle's largest suburb, home to an art museum and a botanical garden
• 5 Issaquah — has an attractive old town and hosts a salmon festival
• 6 Kirkland — a charming lakefront city with a collection of outdoor sculptures
• 7 Mercer Island — a small city located on an island of the same name in Lake Washington
• 8 Redmond — home to Microsoft and Nintendo of America
• 9 Sammamish - Suburb of Bellevue and Redmond east of Lake Sammamish from Bellevue.

South King County

Most visitors will only see the Sea-Tac Airport, in the city of SeaTac. (The airport's name came first.) Continuing south merges into Pierce County, soon reaching Tacoma.

• 10 Auburn — home to the White River Valley Museum which focuses on Native American history to the 1920s. They focus on the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, pioneer life
• 11 Burien — 'Old Town' Burien has a wide variety of shops and restaurants and has held onto the area's early charm
• 12 Federal Way — home of the Pacific Bonsai Museum and Rhododendron Species Botanical Gardens
• 13 Kent — a commuter town and manufacturing
• 14 Renton — dominated by Boeing's 737 factory
• 15 SeaTac — the city that named itself after an airport
• 16 Tukwila — visit the Museum of Flight, an air and space museum
• 17 White Center — blends seamlessly into its neighbor, West Seattle, the area has embraced its punk rock, mixed-ethnicity identity

Cascades

The rural, sparsely distributed towns of the far east county are the respite from the sprawl:

• 18 Black Diamond
• 19 Duvall
• 20 Enumclaw - Nearest town in the southeastern part of King County towards Mount Rainier.
• 21 Fall City
• 22 North Bend — David Lynch's television series Twin Peaks was partially filmed here
• 23 Snoqualmie — Old railroad and logging town, home to the impressive Snoqualmie Falls

Other destinations

• 1 Snoqualmie Pass — a Cascades ski resort on the eastern edge of the county, along I-90
• 2 Stevens Pass — a Cascades ski resort on the eastern edge of the county, along US-2

Understand

Local information

• King County Council website

Get in

By car

The major interstates are I-5, running north-south through Seattle to Snohomish County and Pierce County, and I-90, running east from Seattle through Bellevue and Issaquah to Snoqualmie Pass and Kittitas County. The notoriously congested I-405 splits off from I-5 at Tukwila in the south and Lynnwood in the north, serving Bellevue and the other cities of the Eastside. From the I-5/405 junction in Tukwila I-405 becomes SR-518 which continues west to SR-509 in Burien via Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

By plane

1 Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, (SEA ^IATA), called "SeaTac" by locals, it connects Seattle to all regions of the U.S. and the world, especially with frequent transpacific routes but, also to Europe, Mexico and the Middle East as well. Competition is fierce and fares are low on service to the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California with multiple airlines.

In addition to the above there are additional airports for general aviation and Kenmore Air at:

• 2 King County International Airport/Boeing Field (BFI ^IATA) which serves as an airport for cargo flights, general aviation, VIP flights, and Boeing test flights as well as Boeing manufacturing activities. It is also the location for the aviation museum. Commercial aviation is only with Kenmore Air.
• 3 South Lake Union Airport (LKE  ^IATA) is a base for Seaplanes which are another popular way to travel around Puget Sound with several airlines based out of Seattle including Kenmore Air serving areas all around Puget Sound and Canada and Harbour Air to Vancouver's Coal Harbour. Kenmore Air offers shuttle transfer from SeaTac to their terminal on the shores of Lake Union and King County International Airport (Boeing Field).

• 4 Renton Municipal Airport (RNT ^IATA), farther from downtown than Boeing Field but still closer than Sea-Tac Airport, is another option for general aviation, with a sea plane dock at the north end of the airport on Lake Washington known as Wiley Post Memorial Seaplane Base. This airport only has basic facilities and no terminal building, but customs and immigration facilities are available for international arrivals with prior arrangement. For travelers going up to Friday Harbor on the San Juan Islands 5 Friday Harbor Seaplanes offer tours and one way travel up from the Renton Municipal Airport in their seaplanes.

By boat

• Washington State Ferries (WSF) operates the following within King County and from King to Kitsap County in the other side of Puget Sound:

• downtown Seattle (Pier 52) and Bainbridge Island
• downtown Seattle (Pier 52) and Bremerton
• Fauntleroy (next to Fauntleroy Park) in West Seattle to Vashon Island and Southworth.

All Washington State ferries are for both vehicles and passengers.

• Kitsap Transit Fast Ferry operates the following passenger only ferry, from Pier 50 in Downtown Seattle to:

• Bremerton From Bermerton they operate another smaller and slower moving passenger only ferry to Port Orchard.
• Kingston
• Southworth in Kitsap County. No stops in Vashon Island.

From ferry terminals in Kitsap County passengers transfer to Kitsap Transit buses to go onward without a car.

• King County Water Taxi connects downtown Seattle (Pier 50) to Seacrest Park in West Seattle and Vashon Island on two separate routes. This operates as a passenger only ferry.
• High Speed Catamaran by Clipper Vacations connects Seattle to Victoria, British Columbia (Canada) via Friday Harbor as a passenger only ferry from Pier 69 in the Seattle Waterfront.

Get around

By public transit

King County Metro, ☏ +1 206-553-3000. Operates bus, streetcar, and monorail routes in King County. Communities within the county served by this operator's routes include Auburn, Bellevue, Bothell, Burien, Federal Way, Issaquah, Kent, Kirkland, Mercer Island, North Bend, Redmond, Renton, SeaTac, Seattle, Shoreline, Tukwila, Vashon Island, White Center, and Woodinville. (updated Jun 2023) The web trip planneris straightforward and accurate, as long as your bus is on time.

The number of the route also tells you which area of the county it serves:

• Below 100 - Seattle only
• 100s - South King County: Auburn, Burien, Federal Way, Kent, Renton, SeaTac, Tukwila, Vashon Island, White Center
• 200s - Eastside: Bellevue, Bothell, Issaquah, Kirkland, North Bend, Redmond, Sammamish, Duvall
• 300s - North King County: Aurora Village, Bothell, Northgate, Shoreline, Woodinville
• 400s - Reserved for Community Transit commuter routes to Snohomish County from Seattle
• 500s - Sound Transit routes operated by King County Metro are 522, 542, 545, 550, 554, 556, 566
• 900s - DART (fixed) routes to serve surrounding lower density suburban or rural neighborhoods from a transit center or station in one of the cities served by King County Metro. There is some flexibility to deviate from the fixed route for drop off and pick-up. Appointments required for pick-up off their fixed routes.
• RapidRide - operates as bus rapid in the area to serve fewer stops (spaced further apart), along the route on frequent schedules. Routes are identified by a letter (A-H) rather then by numbers.

Sound Transit, toll-free: +1-888-889-6368. Has regional public transit routes including Sounder trains, Link light rail, and express bus in King County (e.g. Bellevue, Federal Way, Kent, Renton, Seattle), Snohomish County (e.g. Everett, Lynnwood) and Pierce County (e.g. Puyallup, Tacoma). (updated Jun 2023)

• Link light rail operates in Seattle, traveling north to Lynnwood and south to Angle Lake via Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on the 1 Line Train and from Redmond Tech Station to South Bellevue via downtown Bellevue on the 2 Line Train. Construction is underway to extend the 2 Line Train into downtown Seattle from the South Bellevue Station and from Angle Lake to Federal Way.
• Sounder commuter rail service, operating weekday rush hours only, connects Seattle to Tacoma via Auburn, Kent and Tukwila on the 'S' Line Train and to Everett via Edmonds and Mukilteo on the 'N' Line train. Two separate routes.

• Sound Transit has many convenient express bus routes that travel South (to Tacoma), East (Redmond, Bellevue), and North (Bothell, Lynnwood). Outside of the immediate Seattle-Bellevue area, many routes operate only during weekday rush hours. Check your schedules in advance, and beware of holiday service cutbacks. All Sound Transit routes have route numbers that are in the 500s.

By car

All but essential for reaching the outermost suburbs and mountains. In addition to the interstates, major routes include SR-520, linking Seattle's University District to Bellevue and Redmond. On the south end, SR-18, a major freeway from I-5 (Exit 142) in Federal Way to I-90 (Exit 25) in Snoqualmie, east of Issaquah, through Black Diamond, Maple Valley and Covington; and SR-167, from Exit 2 of I-405 in Renton to Puyallup via Kent, Auburn (Jct SR=18), Pacific and Sumner. On the north end SR-522 branches from I-5 (Exit 171) to US-2 in Monroe via Lake City Way in N Seattle, Bothell, and Woodinville (Jct I-405). SR-522 goes around the northern shores of Lake Washington.

Traffic congestion is a major problem in the Puget Sound area on all freeways and major roads. Avoid traveling during rush hour if you can, particularly along I-5 and across the Lake Washington bridges.

Lake Washington is crossed by two floating bridges: the I-90 bridge is free, but the SR-520 bridge charges a toll that varies by the time of day. There are no toll booths: unless you have a transponder, your license plate will be recorded and a bill will be mailed to you automatically in a few weeks. The long detour around the lake in either direction will usually waste far more time than you'll save in toll money.

Do

• 1 Remlinger Farms (in Carnation). 

Go next

• Tacoma, Lacey, Olympia and Mount Rainier are in the South Sound which consist of Pierce and Thurston Counties, south of King County.
• Everett, Mukilteo, Lynnwood, Edmonds, Snohomish and Whidbey Island are in the North Sound just north of King County.
• The Kitsap Peninsula — west which consists of Gig Harbor, Bainbridge Island, Port Orchard and Bremerton in the west.
• the North Cascades region — north and east consists of Skagit, Whatcom, Chelan, Kittitas and Okanogan Counties with Kittitas and Skagit Counties being the closest from the North Sound:

• Anacortes, Mt Vernon, Burlington and Sedro-Woolley are some of the cities and towns in the nearby Skagit County to the north; and Ellensburg, Cle Elum and Roslyn in Kittitas County to the east. The North Cascade region also consists of Mount Baker, North Cascades National Park and Lake Chelan.