Northwest Washington

Northwest Washington is in the North Cascades region of Washington.

Cities

This subregion consists of Whatcom County in the north and Skagit County in the south.

Whatcom County

• 1 Bellingham — northernmost city in the contiguous US. County seat of Whatcom County
• 2 Birch Bay
• 3 Blaine — with the Peace Arch border crossing
• 4 Concrete — mountain village at the base of Baker Lake and the North Cascades
• 5 Ferndale
• 6 Lummi Island — with a unique reefnet salmon fishery, eclectic population of artists, and picturesque seascapes
• 7 Lynden — Dutch heritage and farming center
• 8 Point Roberts — American enclave community that you have to travel through Canada to reach by land
• 9 Sumas — a border town

Skagit County

• 10 Mount Vernon — a major tulip growing area. County seat of Skagit County
• 11 Anacortes — gateway to the San Juan Islands
• 12 Bow — a small coastal village at south end of Chuckanut Drive
• 13 Burlington
• 14 Edison — a small artsy town
• 15 La Conner — famous for the local tulips and historic district
• 16 Sedro-Woolley — a true logging town

Other destinations

• 1 Mount Baker — a ski resort with world-record snowfall in the shadow of a volcano
• 2 North Cascades National Park — Jagged peaks, deep valleys, cascading waterfalls and over 300 glaciers adorn the scenic North Cascades Highway

Understand

To the west from the Cascades to the coast are lowlands. The Skagit Valley is fertile farmland, overflowing with tulips in the spring. Anacortes is the gateway to the San Juan Islands. Further north, Bellingham is the last US city before the Canadian border.

Get in

By plane

• 1 Bellingham International Airport (BLI ^IATA) is the largest airport in the region.

• 2 Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA ^IATA), while located a way to the south of Seattle, is the closest major airport within the US.
  • BellAir Airporter (Bus stops at Seattle Tacoma International Airport, Washington State Convention Center, Convention Place (prior reservations only)), ☏ +1-866-235-5247. One route goes up to Stanwood, Burlington/Mt Vernon, Bellingham & Blaine, another route to the San Juan Islands ferry in Anacortes. 
• 3 Vancouver International Airport (YVR ^IATA), while across the border in Canada, is sometimes convenient.

By train

• Amtrak, ☏ +1 215-856-7924, toll-free: +1-800-872-7245. Amtrak Cascades runs a twice daily service between Seattle and Vancouver with stops in Everett, Mount Vernon, and Bellingham. Additional service to Seattle by Cantrail bus (see 'By bus' in the above), operating as the Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach. Connections to additional Amtrak trains are in Seattle. (updated Mar 2022)

By car

From British Columbia

To cross this international border, you need an international travel document: a passport, a NEXUS card, a US Passport Card, or certain "Enhanced ID" Drivers Licenses.

There are five land border crossing points, between the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada and the Northwest Washington region of Washington state, USA. They are referred to by different terms in Canada and the US.

Land border crossings between the Lower Mainland and the Northwest Washington (west to east)

				Hours NEXUS open, entering:
Canadian name	US name	Location	Hours open	Canada	US	Comments
4 Boundary Bay	Point Roberts	Delta, BC (56th St) – Point Roberts, WA (Tyee Drive)	Daily 24 hours	Summer daily 7AM–7PM, winter none	Daily 9AM–7PM	This crossing is only useful for reaching Point Roberts, the US tip of a Canadian peninsula which extends just south of the 49° N latitude. There is no land access from there to the rest of the USA.
5 Surrey (Douglas / Peace Arch)	Blaine (Peace Arch)	Surrey, BC (Highway 99) – Blaine, WA (Interstate 5)	Daily 24 hours	Daily 7AM–midnight	Daily 6AM–midnight	Primary border crossing point for cars. Foot and bicycle traffic also welcome. No commercial traffic allowed. Best NEXUS lane access. Canadian and US Customs offices here are good places to ask questions.
6 Pacific Highway	Blaine (Pacific Highway)	Surrey, BC (Highway 15) – Blaine, WA (WA-543) (From Hwy 99 southbound take exit 2A and go along 8 Ave for 1.5 km to Hwy 15. From I-5 northbound take exit 275 for WA-543.)	Daily 24 hours	Daily 7AM–midnight	Daily 6AM–9PM	Also known as "Truck Crossing". Primary border crossing point for trucks and buses. Cars and foot traffic also welcome, with waits usually shorter than at Peace Arch. Canadian and US Customs offices here are good places to ask questions.
7 Aldergrove	Lynden	Langley, BC (Highway 13) – Lynden, WA (WA-539, the Guide Meridian)	Daily 8AM–midnight	Daily 10AM–8PM	None	Due north of Bellingham. Often has shorter lines than Peace Arch and Pacific Highway, but also less capacity for line-ups. If you are going to or from Vancouver or the western suburbs the longer drive to Aldergrove usually outweighs the shorter lines.
8 Huntingdon	Sumas	Abbotsford, BC (Highway 11) – Sumas, WA (WA-9)	Daily 24 hours	M–F 8AM–8PM, Sa Su, Hol 8AM–10PM	M–F 8AM–6PM, Sa Su 8AM–5PM	Less capacity for line-ups than Peace Arch and Pacific Highway.

Visitors by car across border should be aware that there are often lengthy lineups at the border, in either direction. During summer, waits at the border can exceed three hours during peak times. You can see current wait time forecasts for both directions on the Canada Border Services Agency website , and for US-bound traffic on the US Customs and Border Protection website . Washington State also maintains charts of estimated times towards Canada . It can be helpful to view webcams of the border lineups; Canada-bound and US-bound . Two AM stations give regular updates on border lineups in both directions: News 1130 (1130 on the AM dial) every 10 minutes beginning at one minute past the hour, and AM 730 every 10-15 minutes. Electronic signs near the border on I-5, BC 99, #1 BC-11 and BC 15 give the current wait times at both the Peace Arch and Pacific Highway crossings, allowing you to choose the shorter option.

When regular lanes have backups, NEXUS lanes usually have much shorter waits. However, the NEXUS lanes impose many restrictions which regular lanes do not; e.g. everyone in your car must have a NEXUS card.

From Seattle and Puget Sound

Head north on Interstate 5 from Seattle. Mount Vernon, Burlington, Bellingham, Blaine and Ferndale are directly on I-5, and most other cities are close.

From Eastern Washington

The North Cascades Highway (SR-20) runs from the Okanogan valley area across the Cascades to Burlington and Sedro-Woolley. It closes in winter; the next two passes to the south stay open year-round, US-2 over Stevens Pass from Wenatchee and I-90 over Snoqualmie Pass from Ellensburg.

By boat

• 9 Alaska Marine Highway System, toll-free: +1-800-642-0066. A ferry service from Bellingham, Washington up the Inside Passage to Haines, Alaska. Plan your travel early as this service tends to fill up fast. (updated Jun 2022)
• Washington State Ferries, ☏ +1 206 464-6400, toll-free: +1-800-843-3779. A ferry sails to the San Juan Islands from Anacortes. (updated Mar 2023)
• Several towns in the region, including Bellingham, Blaine and Anacortes, have marinas for private boats.

	Note: The Sidney (BC)-Anacortes ferry service has been suspended and will not resume until at least 2030.
	(Information last updated 01 Mar 2023)

Get around

By public transit

Many of the local public transit are limited to the main cities/towns in the counties they serve:

• 10 Skagit Transit. Operates public transportation in and around Mount Vernon, Burlington, Sedro-Woolley and Anacortes in Skagit County. (updated Nov 2024) Notable bus routes include:
  • 40X connects Mount Vernon with March's Point Park & Ride. At March's Point P&R, riders can connect with Island Transit bus route 411W from Whidbey Island and Skagit Transit bus route 410 from Anacortes (route 410 also travels to the ferry terminal to the San Juan Islands)
  • 80X connects Mount Vernon with Bellingham via Chuckanut P&R. Route operated by Skagit Transit and Whatcom Transportation Authority (WTA)
  • 90X connects Chuckanut P&R, Mount Vernon and S Mt Vernon P&R, with Everett, where transfers are possible with Sound Transit buses enabling travel from Seattle.
• 11 Whatcom Transportation Authority (WTA). Operates local buses in Bellingham, Ferndale, Lynden, and Lummi Nation Ferry in Whatcom County. Most notable routes for travelers are: (updated Oct 2024)
  • 1 Fairhaven Transportation Center and Downtown Bellinghanm
  • 3 Bellingham Airport and Downtown Bellingham
  • 50 Lummi Nation - Downtown Bellingham
  • 75 I-5 Corridor from Blaine to Downtown Bellingham via Lynden and Ferndale.
  • 80x Bellingham - Alger - Mount Vernon on I-5

By boat

There are a couple of lesser known ferries to nearby islands that are county operated:

• Guemes Island Ferry is the other ferry connecting Anacortes to Guemes Island from a different location than the San Juan Ferry. This ferry is operated by Skagit County and is capable of carrying vehicles and passengers.
• Lummi Island Ferry connects the Lummi Nations Peninsula (north of Bellingham Bay from Bellingham) to Lummi Island. This ferry is operated by Whatcom County Public Works Department and is also capable of carrying both vehicle and passengers.

See

Itineraries

• North Cascade Loop, a scenic drive through pristine mountains, grand rivers, crystalline lakes and scenic islands. This includes stops in the Skagit Valley and along the North Cascades Highway.

Do

• Bay View State Park — on Padilla Bay, 7 miles west of Burlington and 14 miles east of Anacortes
• Birch Bay State Park — on the coast 20 miles north of Bellingham and 10 miles south of Blaine
• Larrabee State Park — six miles south of Bellingham on SR 11/Chuckanut Drive
• Rasar State Park — on the Skagit River, 14 miles east of Burlington
• Rockport State Park — in an old-growth forest 8 miles east of Concrete