BengeBoy 

Hi, am headed to San Juan Islands this weekend w/bikes, planning to leave car in Anacortes. I know there is a big parking lot for cars near the terminal; we were planning to leave the car there, unload the bikes, and ride onto the ferry.

Any idea about whether there is likely to be enough parking space early on a Friday morning?

I thought I read a thread somewhere about folks running out of space and having to park on the other side of town and then cycle over to the ferry - but I can't find that. I found some other info online suggesting there is "plenty" of parking but am uncertain about what to plan for.

stringbreaker

Thats a pretty big parking area and I think if you are there in the morning it wouldn't be a problem. IIRC there are some pay lots operated by diamond parking if you need to use them. Check with the ferry system website there should be some info there.

TommyL

Secret free parking for cyclists...

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?doflg...33088&t=h&z=15

I park on the street down there.

robertc3

On a Friday morning you should have no trouble parking at the terminal. It does cost quite a bit in the summer. Given that you are on a bike you have much more flexibility to pursue options like Tommy suggested. There are lots of streets around where parking is legal. I don't know how long you are staying, but most street parking is limited to 24 hours, so you are taking a small risk that they will ticket or tow your car. I have never heard of it happening and I have friends who park in the Skyline neighborhood all the time.

BengeBoy 

Thanks for pointing that out. I went out to the islands by boat one weekend and left my car somewhere in that Marina parking lot (I think it was a paid lot just a little further past where you are pointing toward); so that was going to be our backup.

Thanks all for the reassurance -- we're going to be out for several days so I didn't want to park in a neighborhood. I figured I'd park in front of the house of the one guy who has gotten sick of ferry riders parking in front of his house...

ngateguy

I stayed in the motel at the dock a couple of weeks ago and there is very little ferry traffic for the 2 first runs of the morning. We rode on to the Ferry around 9 am and there was still parking in the lot.

BengeBoy 

Just to close out this thread -- we found plenty of parking early on a Friday morning; we were in the lower lot (the lot closest to the terminal) and there appeared to be tons of parking in the other lots as well.

robertc3

How was the riding?

BengeBoy 

Really good. Pics to come. We did:

- Loop around San Juan Island
- Rode from Orcas Island ferry to the top of Mt. Constitution (!).
- Loop around Lopez Island

Nice riding....more traffic than I had anticipated, especially on San Juan Island and Orcas.

Killer chip seal on most roads -- we were on touring bikes w/fat tires. I was happy I didn't have my roadie w/skinnier tires.

TommyL

How was the heat for you? I was camping at Moran this weekend and rode up Constitution relatively early Friday and Saturday mornings. Later in the day I saw people riding up from Eastsound in the hot sun. I didn't envy them! Thought about doing the Wildlife century, but as a true North-westerner, 85 degree weather sends me running for cover!

Kamala

Sorry we missed you! We were kayaking of San Juan this weekend. How about that Mt. Constitution climb?! Did it twice last year because the downhill was so awesome that I wanted to go on the ride again.

woodway

The wife and I did the ferry to Mt. Constitution climb two weekends ago. Pulled into the Anacortes terminal on a sunday morning and had no trouble getting parking (in the upper lot) - it cost $10 to park for the day. Caught the 10:15 ferry, rolled off the other side and rode to the top of Mt. Constitution, ate some lunch, enjoyed the view and were back to the dock in plenty of time for the 5:20 ferry.

Here is the one-way elevation profile from the ferry dock to the top of Mt. Constitution. Awesome ride.



If you want an even better descent, after September 15th the trails off the top are open to Mountain Bikes. Ride your bike up to little summit, take the trail to the top, and then enjoy some of the sweetest single track around!

BengeBoy 

I think we had the most issues w/the heat on Friday -- we were riding down the west side of San Juan Island in the middle of the afternoon, and it was hot -- the landscape there is dry and brown; it made us feel hotter. I think that's when we got the worst of it.

Climbing up Mt. Constitution on Saturday didn't seem so hot since so much of that ride is in the shade.

Yesterday (Lopez) was OK because we were really just poking around. I don't think I broke a sweat. In fact at the end of the day I realized I had not really worked very hard so I did a couple of sprints up hills just to feel like I'd gotten a workout (p.s.: a "spring" for me means I'm riding at a turtle's pace vs. a snail's pace).

theguth

I'm actually planning on riding on Orcas this weekend too but looking at the ferry rates has convinced me to drive over. There are four of us going and it's $44.15/car but $17.45/cyclist. As long as you have three people making the voyage its cheaper to drive onto the ferry and park on the other side. If someone knows better please steer me to a better option.

woodway

It's a time/money tradeoff.

On your bike, you ride on/off the ferry with no waiting, both ways.

In your car you get into the line on the ferry dock and the line can be long especially on a weekend. We took the 10:15 ferry to Orcas. The gal loading the ferry told us that many of the cars waiting in line were not going to load until the 12:30 sailing.

PS: If the bikes are on the roof of your car, you will probably get hit with the "Over 7'-6" height surcharge" of $47.35

TommyL

theguth: They charge you per passenger as well. My wife and I drove to Orcas with our bikes on the back and it was almost $60 after the passenger fee. It's cheaper to just ride on, and you won't miss the ferry (we spent 9 hours in line to get there and get back).

BengeBoy 

One note: I think the fares are $44.15 for a car and driver, and you have to pay $13.45 for each of the 3 passengers -- so the car fare is $84.50 vs. $69.80 for 4 cyclists (including their bikes).

After taking ferries around the islands this weekend, I'd pay a premium *not* to have a car. As noted by woodway, it can be hard to get a car off the islands on the weekend. You have to sit in line to get your car out, and some people end up waiting through several ferries before they can get off the island.

theguth

Yikes, thanks for the tips. Definitely finding a place to park and riding on!