North Sound

North Sound is in Puget Sound, a region of Washington.

Regions

The North Sound consists of Snohomish County and Island County.

Cities

Cities in Snohomish County:

• 1 Arlington
• 2 Clearview
• 3 Edmonds
• 4 Everett - lies about 25 mi (40 km) north of Seattle on I-5 and is home to the Boeing factory - a massive building where all of its wide-bodied aircraft are assembled - tours are available.
• 5 Granite Falls
• 6 Gold Bar
• 7 Lake Stevens
• 8 Lynnwood
• 9 Marysville
• 10 Mill Creek
• 11 Monroe
• 12 Mountlake Terrace
• 13 Mukilteo
• 14 Smokey Point
• 15 Snohomish
• 16 Stanwood

Island County consists of Whidbey Island and Camano Island:

• 17 Camano Island
• 18 Clinton
• 19 Coupeville - county seat of Island County
• 20 Freeland
• 21 Greenbank
• 22 Langley
• 23 Oak Harbor - largest city in Island County

Other destinations

• 1 Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve — historical features of the reserve appear to today's visitors much as they did a century ago, when New England sea captains were drawn to Penn Cove
• 2 Skykomish Valley — home to several small towns and big mountains on the way to Stevens Pass.
• Mountain Loop Highway — a 52-mile scenic drive through some of the best camping and outdoors recreation in the region. This road runs between Granite Falls and Darrington on Forest Road 20.

Get in

By car

The major highways are I-5, running north-south through Everett to Mount Vernon in Skagit County and to Seattle in King County, and US-2 which begins from Everett and goes east towards Wenatchee through Lake Stevens, Monroe, Sultan and Gold Bar in Snohomish County as it winds its way towards Leavenworth. The notoriously congested I-405 splits off from I-5 at State Route (SR) 525 in Lynnwood in the north to Tukwila in the south, serving Bellevue and the other cities of the Eastside. Going the other way from the I-405/I-5 junction, I-405 becomes SR-525 towards Edmonds. The ferry carries SR-525 from Edmonds to Clinton, where SR-525 continues north towards Keystone through Whidbey Island as a main thoroughfare.

By plane

• 1 Paine Field, (PAE ^IATA) serves as an airport for Boeing's manufacturing and test flight activities as Boeing Field Everett. It also serves a commercial airport for Alaska Airlines from major west coast cities.

• Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, (SEA ^IATA), is still the largest airport in the area with connecting flights 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.

By boat

• Washington State Ferries (WSF) operates the following between Island and Snohomish Counties in the North Sound and to the Kitsap Peninsula in the other side of the Sound:

• Coupeville (Ft Casey State Park) and Port Townsend
• Edmonds and Kingston
• Mukilteo and Clinton

All Washington State ferries are for both vehicles and passengers.

Get around

By public transit

Community Transit, ☏ +1 425-353-7433, toll-free: +1-800-562-1375. Operates local and regional public transit bus routes in Snohomish County, except only local routes in Everett. Communities within the county served by this operator's routes include Arlington, Edmonds, Everett, Lynnwood, Marysville, Mill Creek, Monroe, Mountlake Terrace, Mukilteo, Snohomish, and Stanwood (updated Jun 2023)

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

• Below 100 - Everett only. Buses within the City of Everett are operated by Everett Transit
• 100s - South Snohomish County: Lynnwood, Aurora Village, Bothell, Edmonds, Mukilteo, Mountlake Terrace, Mill Creek/Silver Firs
• 200s - North Snohomish County: Arlington, Marysville, Monroe, Stanwood, Tulalip, Lake Stevens, Gold Bar, Snohomish
• 300s - Reserved for King County Metro routes serving near the King-Snohomish County line in Aurora Village, Bothell, Mountlake Terrace, Shoreline and Woodinville
• 400s - Connections to Downtown Seattle: Route 424 between Snohomish, Monroe, Woodinville and Seattle is the only route operating in this category. Other commuter routes numbered in the 400s have been discontinued in favor of Link Line 1.
• 500s - Sound Transit routes operated by Community Transit are 510, 512, 513, 515, 532, 535.
• 900s - Commuter routes from the Link Light Rail 1 Line train in Lynnwood to different places in Snohomish County. They replace the 400s and 800s bus routes to/from Seattle.
• Swift - 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 color 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. Plans are underway to continue this route from Lynnwood to Everett.
• Sounder commuter rail service, operating weekday rush hours only, connects Seattle to Everett via Edmonds and Mukilteo on the 'N' Line train.

• 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.

Island Transit, ☏ +1 360-678-7771. Scheduled bus services on Whidbey Island and Camano Island. Service on Whidbey Island includes to Clinton, Coupeville, Freeland, Greenbank, Langley, Oak Harbor with off island connections to Anacortes. There are intercounty connections to Everett (412) and Mount Vernon (411C, 411W) from Island County (Whidbey Island and Camano Island). Free. (updated Jun 2023)

By car

All but essential for reaching the outermost suburbs and mountains. In addition to the interstates, major routes include:

US Highway 2 begins in Everett and continues east through Lake Stevens, Snohomish, Sultan and Gold Bar in Snohomish County

State Route (SR) 99 runs parallel along the westside of i-5, inking Aurora Village in Shoreline to Lynnwood and Everett

SR-9, parallels along the east side of I-5 from Woodinville through Snohomish and Arlington

SR-525 connects the I-5/405 junction (exit 182 of I-5) to the up to Keystone on Whidbey Island via Mukilteo-Clinton Ferry. From Keystone SR-20 continues back towards I-5 in Burlington via Deception Pass and Anacortes. In the other direction SR-20 goes from Keystone towards Port Townsend via Coupeville-Pt Townsend Ferry

Stanwood-Bryant Rd (SR-532) connects Camano Island and Stanwood to the I-5 corridor at exit 212.

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 405.

Do

• Native gambling establishments — Quil Ceda Creek Casino and Tulalip Casino
• 3 Mount Pilchuck State Park — 35 miles northeast of Everett, features a trail to the top of Mount Pilchuck (5324') and breathtaking views in all directions.
• 4 Wallace Falls State Park — 2 miles northeast of Gold Bar, an easy hike to one of the largest waterfalls in the region

Go next

• the North Cascades region — north and east consists of Skagit, Whatcom, Chelan, Kittitas and Okanogan Counties with Skagit County being the closest to the North Sound:

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

• Seattle, Bellevue, Bothell, Kirkland, Shoreline, Woodinville and Redmond in King County
• the Kitsap Peninsula — west which consists of Gig Harbor, Bainbridge Island, Kingston, Port Orchard and Bremerton in the west.
• The San Juan Islands are a scattering of forested islands in the serene waters to the north of Puget Sound in Washington state, adjacent to Canada's Vancouver Island and South Gulf Islands. Ferries, private boats, kayaks, and Orca (whales) criss-cross the waters, while float planes and bald eagles soar overhead. The islands are largely rural, with a few small towns on some of the islands.
• Whidbey Island is part of this region that is a more rural than Snohomish County which is more suburban. Travelers staying in Snohomish County or anywhere closer to Seattle may think Whidbey Island is a separate region.