Ferries from Vashon Island

Vashon is the largest island in Puget Sound without a bridge, twenty minutes from West Seattle, and its terminal at Vashon Heights carries 195 active sailings — a commuter volume that the terminal itself was not built for.

Where the ferries go

• Fauntleroy in West Seattle — about 20 minutes, 58 sailings.
• Southworth on the Kitsap Peninsula — about 10 minutes, 38 sailings.

Operated by Washington State Ferries as part of the Triangle route.

⚠ Vashon has two terminals, at opposite ends

Vashon Heights, at the north end, is this one — the busy one, facing Seattle. Tahlequah, at the south end, runs to Point Defiance in Tacoma with a fraction of the service.

The island is about twenty kilometres long and the drive between them takes half an hour. Booking or planning against the wrong terminal is the classic Vashon mistake.

Holding capacity

WSF's own assessment is that Vashon, like Fauntleroy and Southworth, does not meet the agency's holding standard of 1.5 times a vessel's vehicle capacity. On a summer Sunday the queue reflects that.

Walking on removes the problem entirely, and Vashon's bus network meets the boats.

Why no bridge

Proposals have surfaced repeatedly since the 1950s and the island has consistently opposed them. The ferry is not a stopgap here — it is the thing islanders chose, and it shapes the character of the place more than any other single fact.

Timing

Sharply commuter-shaped toward Seattle in the morning and back in the evening. Summer weekends invert it, with the heavy direction outbound on Friday and inbound on Sunday.