This content was last updated on 2023 June 10th

Public Transit to/from the PCT

The Resupply page on PCTWashington.com lists many places to access the trail by private vehicle. This page covers 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. Those are Stevens Pass, Snoqualmie Pass, Bridge of The Gods, and High Bridge (Stehekin). 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.

CA-3, Manning Park

As of April 15th 2023, the Canadian border is open *northbound only* with a permit. Hikers are prohibited from crossing into the USA from Canada.

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

State Route 20, Rainy Pass, Mazama - From the West

Note: 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 Seattle side 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

To get to Mount Vernon, WA (which is 103 miles from the Rainy Pass trailhead) from Seattle, a Greyhound bus runs twice daily. The 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

To get there from either Seattle, or Vancouver BC you can take either an Amtrak train or a Greyhound bus. They both leave from Pacific Central Station in Vancouver BC, or from King Street Staion in Seattle, and they all stop at the same Mt Vernon station.

The Amtrak Cascades Route train leaves Seattle twice daily at 7:50 AM and 7:00 PM.
The Amtrak Cascades Route train leaves Vancouver twice daily at 6:35 AM and 5:45 PM.
Amtrak

A trail angel, Daniel Cimoch, is offering rides daily from Mt Vernon to the Lions Den in Mazama and can take from 2-12 hikers per day. He will pick you up from the Skagit Transit Center, host hikers, and is even willing to take you shopping for supplies.

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.

To get to Seattle from the airport, take the Light Rail Northgate Line to the Stadium Station which is one block from the Seattle Greyhound bus station. Sound Transit, sea-tac-airport

State Route 20, Rainy Pass, Mazama - From the East

***STARTING 2023, July 10th*** 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 at 1:10 PM. (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) See times and stop locations here
  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. That 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

High Bridge Ranger station is one of the few places you can reach entirely by public transport. From there you can take the blue bus to Stehekin, which is operated by the Lake Chelan Boat Co. (until 2022 it was "the red bus" operated by the North Cascades Lodge at Stehekin).

For 2023 you can book the Stehekin Shuttle Bus online
Stehekin to High Bridge 8:00, 11:30, 2:00, 5:30 PM
High Bridge to Stehekin 9:00, 12:30, 3:00, 6:30 PM
Stehekin Shuttle (a) or Stehekin Shuttle (b)

From Stehekin you can take any of the three ferries to Chelan.
Stehekin Ferry
Lady of the Lake

You can also exit the trail much further south at Suiattle Pass via Cloudy Pass, then catch one of these same ferries to Chelan from Lucerne, WA.

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. Link Transit Route 21

US-2, Stevens Pass

Greyhound bus 0736/0737 makes two stops daily at Stevens Pass, one at 10:30 AM eastbound to Leavenworth, and again at 1:30 PM westbound to Skykomish, Monroe, Everett, and 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. Greyhound

New in 2023, I-90 Snoqualmie Pass from Seattle

There is NEW shuttle service between Seattle and Snoqualmie Pass that runs twice per day starting June 15th, 2023. The shuttle starts at Lot E18 at Husky Stadium (light rail station). It 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 detials. They are also open to charters if you want to get a group of riders together. ToTheMountain Shuttle

The closest King County public transportation will get you is North Bend, WA. King County Metro bus 208 runs from downtown Seattle to the North Bend outlet mall which is on the north side of Interstate-90, right next to it. King County Metro Route 208

The closest Cross-County public transportation will get you is Issaquah, WA which is kind of the gateway to Snoqualmie Pass from the greater Seattle area. Sound Transit bus 554 runs from Seattle to Issaquah. Sound Transit Route 554

WA-410, Chinook Pass, Naches Pass

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 Metro Route 915

US-12, White Pass

On January 26th, 2003 the LMHT posted that they will discontinue shuttle service from Packwood to Centralia, WA on June 30th, 2023.
The other bus to Centralia only goes to Morton, WA which is not even half way to White Pass from Centraila (Interstate 5) Twin Transit

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

Trout Lake

Getting on the trail: The closest public transport will get you to Trout Lake is Hood River, OR which is 27 miles away. The Columbia Gorge Express route run by Columbia Area Transit (CAT) will take you to 224 Wasco Loop Rd, Hood River, OR. If you want to hitch the rest of the way to Trout Lake, then you will want to be on Highway 141. That is 6 miles north, across the Hood River Bridge. If you go a bit further, 6.7 miles, there is a wide turnout on highway 141 here 45.74154000333097, -121.52243914670967

The Trout Lake Trail Angels offer a shuttle ride from Trout Lake to 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.

WA-14, Bridge of the Gods

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 bridge where you can cross into Washington and access the PCT trailhead on WA-14