Hi all!

I actually live right here in the Puget Sound but am looking for a place to visit get away next weekend!

Here is my criteria, I am looking to stay within about 1 hour (driving time - not including a ferry ride) of Seattle and find a place where I can take a ferry, go on a hike (about 3-5 miles total hiking w/ elevation gain), and then a place where I can stay and find something to do in the evening such as dinner and ??

While I have been on hikes in the Snoqualmie/North Bend area I am looking for something that requires the ferry! I would go on an afternoon and return the following day.

If you have any suggestions on destination, places to stay, other activities, etc I would greatly appreciate it!

What about the San Juans?

Alderbrook Inn on Hood Canal?

Resort at Port Ludlow
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Nice Inn on Bay. great hikes in the woods (ask front desk for maps of trails one to a waterfall not too far.

Fort up the way. Great dinners and small bar/pub to socialize.

I'd go to Whidbey Island. There are a couple of nice Inns in Langley, as well as some good restaurants. You could go to Deception Pass State Park, where there are some nice hiking trails, as well as Mt. Erie Park (on Fidalgo Island), which has great views and hiking too.

These are good suggestions - I like the Whidbey Island/Deception Pass, except I would ideally like to take a ferry from Seattle (show off Seattle skyline!) and stay within about an hour drive.

That combo is within an hour, but I think the best way there is all by land.

I think the most ideal would be the Bremerton Ferry followed by the Bainbridge Island Ferry .... so any suggestion ending up in Bremerton for a place to go/stay/hike?

FYI - Alderbrook Inn not avail that evening/weekend.

If you take the ferry to Winslow (instead of Bremerton) you will spend less time on the water which you can apply to the drive to Port Angeles (70 miles) and then have great hiking opportunities in the Olympic National Park.

The Willcox House near Bremerton comes to mind. It's isolated but they serve dinner at the inn so once you're there, you don't have to go anywhere.

There are two nice hikes (with elevation gain) on the Olympic penensula near Quilcene. The easier one is Mt. Walker, which is right off Hwy. 101; a 2-mile (one-way)_ trail takes you to a wonderful viewpoint (2 actually); you can see much of Puget Sound, up to the San Juans, and west to Mt. Olympus.

The downside to this hike is that you can also drive to the top. The trail is on the other side of the mountain, however, so your hike is not disturbed by cars.

For a really nice, longer hike, try Mt. Townsend. This is up a fairly long road out of Quilcene. I won't even begin to describe the driving rout to the trailhead, but here is a descripstion from someone who hiked up there 2 weeks ago:

"Mt. Townsend is an amazing spring hike. Where else can you reach a 6250ft peak and alpine meadows with flowers in bloom in May and early June? Views from Baker to Rainier and every peak and city in between. Road to trailhead is in good shape, the trail is snow-free and in great shape. It's all south-facing so make an early start. No water available along the upper portion of the trail. A spur trail leads to the Silver lake basin, which looked still buried deep in snow."

This is from the WashingtonTrails Association website, www.wta.org

I used to do these hikes as easy dayhikes from Bainbridge. You need a NW Forest Pass to park at either of the trailheads. If it's raining I'd choose Mt. Walker.

I should add that Port Townsend is a nice place to stay for these hikes. It is an hourand ten minutes from the Bainbridge ferry, and there are lots of places to stay, nice restaurants, and things to do in the evening.