Public Transit to/from trailheads

This content was last updated on 2024 June 7th. Next update 2025 June 1st.

The Resupply page lists many places to access the trail by private vehicle. This page covers accessing the trail using public transit. This information is organized by major east-west highway crossing the PCT.

There are only four places on the PCT you can reach by public transit alone with no private assistance. Those are:

  1. High Bridge (Stehekin)
  2. Stevens Pass
  3. Snoqualmie Pass
  4. Bridge of The Gods (Cascade Locks)

All other access points require covering some distance between the last transit stop and the PCT trailhead.

Where public transit will not get you all the way to the trailhead, you can use the PCT Washington Trail Angels Facebook group to seek rides to close the gap in your route.

SeaTac Airport to Seattle

If you are flying to the Seattle-Tacoma (SEATAC) airport, you can get to Seattle on the Light Rail Northgate Line. The Stadium Station is one block from the Seattle Greyhound Bus Station and also near the King Street Train Station. Sound Transit, sea-tac-airport

From Seattle you can access the PCT from Interstate 90 (Snoqualmie Pass), US-2 (Stevens Pass), or State Route 20 (Rainy Pass) by following the directions below.

Rainy Pass, Mazama, Harts Pass (SR-20)

From the West

Be sure the highway is open

State Route 20 closes when the snow begins to stick to the road. The earliest that has happened was October 31st 1994, the latest that has ever happened was December 30th 1974.

SR 20 will typically open before May 1st, well before the trail begins to emerge from the snow. 2022 was a heavy snow year it opened May 7th 2022. This millenium the earliest SR 20 has ever opened is March 22nd 2001, and the latest was May 25th 2011. Historical Mountain Pass Open and Closure dates

The closest you can get to Rainy Pass from the west via public transit is Concrete, WA which is still 69 miles from Rainy Pass. Skagit Transit Route 70X will take you from Mt Vernon Park & Ride (address below) to the Concrete Park & Ride located at on N. Superior Ave, Concrete, WA 98237 Skagit Transit

Aranging a ride from Concrete might be difficult. Most people arrange a ride from the train & bus station in Mt Vernon.

To get to Mount Vernon, WA (which is 103 miles from the Rainy Pass trailhead) from Seattle, WA or Vancouver, BC a Greyhound bus runs once each day. The Mt Vernon bus station is located right next to Interstate 5 at exit 226 (which is poorly marked). The bus station address is 105 E. Kincaid Street, Mt Vernon, WA 98273 Greyhound

The train is also an option to get to Mt Vernon from Seattle or Vancouver. The Amtrak Cascades Route train leaves Seattle (King Street Station) twice daily and drops you off at the same place as the bus. Amtrak

Hikers driving to Rainy Pass or Mazama are often happy to pick up other hikers from the Skagit Transit Center in Mt Vernon. See the PCT Washington Trail Angels Facebook page to request a ride.

If you need a hotel in Mt Vernon, there are four inexpensive hotels one highway exit north of the bus stop, or about 1.5 miles walk north from the bus stop.

From the East

Starting in 2023 the TranGo bus will take you all the way to the Mazama Store. Bus does not run on Sundays.

  1. Northwestern or Wenatchee Valley Shuttle from Seattle to Wenatchee. Reserve on Greyhound
  2. Apple Line route 802 from Wenatchee to Pateros once daily (300 S. Columbia)
  3. TranGo bus from Pateros to Twisp. (In Pateros, Lakeshore Drive & Commercial Avenue)
  4. You will need to change TranGo busses in Twisp to get to Mazama. (In Twisp, Canyond Road & SR20)
  5. The Mazama Store is 0.7 miles NE from the Lion's Den. You may be able to get the bus driver to drop you off at the turn-off from SR20 which is only 0.2 miles from The Lion's Den.

There is also a by-reservation shuttle that can get you to Mazama from the east: Methow Motion Shuttle.

High Bridge, Stehekin (Chelan US-97)

High Bridge Ranger station is one of the few places you can reach entirely by public transport.

During the hiking season the bus runs 4 times a day between Stehekin and High Bridge Ranger Station.
Book the Stehekin Shuttle Bus online. Stehekin Shuttle

From Stehekin you can take any of the four ferries to Chelan.

Be sure to go to the Chelan dock not the Fields Point dock (Fields Point is 17.5 miles from Chelan and has no public transit at all).

The Chelan ferry dock is 1.2 miles from the Center of Chelan and the City Hall. From Chelan, Link Transit bus route 21 will take you to from the Chelan City Hall on E Johnson Ave to the Amtrack Station in Wenatchee. I'm told it also stops right at the ferry dock. Link Transit Route 21

Alternate exit

You can also exit the PCT much further south at Suiattle Pass via Cloudy Pass, then catch one of these same ferries to Chelan from Lucerne, WA. You may be able to catch a bus from Holden Village to the dock depending on the day. This is an especially beautiful exit route.

Stevens Pass (US-2)

Greyhound bus 0736/0737 makes two stops daily at Stevens Pass (aka Skykomish Jct.), one eastbound to Leavenworth, and another westbound toward Seattle. People will refer you to Amtrak, Greyhound, and Northwestern. They are all the same bus operated by Northwestern. I think the Greyhound app is the easiest for booking. Price is $36. The route from Seattle starts at the train station, then the bus station, then Everett, and Monroe. Greyhound

Snoqualmie Pass (I-90)

The shuttle runs twice a day arriving at Summit West at 9:30 AM or 4:40 PM. The route starts at Lot E18 at Husky Stadium (light rail station) and drops off at the Summit West Lodge (closed) which is effectively between the North and South PCT trailheads. Be sure to check the schedule for the latest details. They are also open to custom charters if you have a large group. ToTheMountain Shuttle

Chinook Pass, Naches Pass (WA-410)

The closest public transportation will get to Chinook Pass is Enumclaw, WA which is 44 miles from the trailhead. King County DART Route 915 will take you to Enumclaw from Auburn. You probably want to get off near the Enumclaw Safeway. King County DART Route 915

White Pass (US-12)

The closest you can get to White Pass is the Chevron station in Morton, WA which is not even half way to White Pass from Centraila (Interstate 5) Twin Transit, Brown Route runs 12 times each day.

The Kraker Barrel store at White Pass is a good place to find a ride or meetup with a Trail Angel.

Trout Lake

The closest public transport will get you to Trout Lake is Hood River, OR which is 27 miles away. The CAT Bus, columbia-gorge-express will take you to Hood River, OR.

Just like Bridge Of The Gods, the Hood River Bridge has no sidewalk so you may want to hitch the rest of the way to Trout Lake.

The Trout Lake Trail Angels offer shuttle rides between Trout Lake and the Williams Mine Trailhead on FR 23

Getting off the trail

The trail angel pickup location is where the PCT intersects with FR-23. There is no mobile signal there so you will want to call head from the PCT. If you care going northbound, you can call from Dry Meadows 46.13905, -121.64656 which is 1.84 miles before the pickup location. If you care going southbound, you can call from 4,400 ft near Swampy Creek 46.18119, -121.62423 which is 1.68 miles before the pickup location.

Bridge of the Gods (WA-14)

The Columbia Gorge Express route run by Columbia Area Transit (CAT) will take you to the Thunder Island Brewing Company in Cascade Locks, OR. The CAT busses are purple and white. Ride CAT Bus, columbia-gorge-express

From there it's a 0.2 mile walk south on US-30 to the Oregon side of the Bridge Of The Gods. Because there is no sidewalk on the bridge, I recommend you stand under the bridge and hitch hike accross (you will see what I mean when you are there.

Based in Hood River, OR Gorge Taxi is also an option for transport in the Columbia River Gorge area. (541) 399-5060

Manning Park (CA-3)

Hikers are prohibited from crossing the USA/Canada border in either direction

This information is only relevant for people wiching to access the northern terminus from Manning Park.

The closest public transit will get you to the trailhead is Hope, BC which is 43 miles away. In Hope you can catch the Rider Express bus at the Chevron gas station at 587 Old Hope Princeton Way.

Although the train (VIA Rail, Route 2) runs through Hope, BC, there is no train station there and the train does not stop there. So the bus is your only option.

I am not aware of any Trail Angel groups in that area. Your best bet for hitching a ride to Hope is either hang out in front of the Manning Park Resort lodge (MPR), or at the intersection of Gibson Pass Rd and Crowsnest Highway (CA-3). The MPR shuttle only runs to the next ski area, not to Hope, BC.

There is a 2x per WEEK shuttle (Saturday and Wednesday) that will take you from the MPR to Hope or all the way to Vancouver. Mountain Man Mikes Shuttle

Another option is to assemble a group and share a private shuttle from Manning Park. Vancouver Shuttle Hire

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