Instagram photo loop on Bainbridge Island
This is a photo day with a car. How to visit the troll has its own page. So do Fort Ward and Blakely Harbor. This page is the day that strings them together: troll, painted bunkers, old mill building, Point White Pier, lunch in Lynwood.
You will not walk this from the ferry. Extra photo stops are still listed on top outdoor. This is the plan with a clock.
Looking for things to do on Bainbridge Island or a day trip from Seattle? Start on the visitor guide. This page is the photo loop, not the full visitor guide.
How long you have
Times start when you leave the dock. The troll is the only stop you can reasonably walk. Everything on the south end needs a car or a booked ride.
| Time off the boat | Do this | Skip |
|---|---|---|
| 3–4 hours, on foot | Walk to Pia at Sakai Park, take the photo, walk back through downtown Winslow. Ice cream on Madrone Lane if you want a cone. | Fort Ward, Blakely Harbor, Point White Pier. You cannot walk those. |
| 6–7 hours, with a car | Troll first. Then south: Fort Ward bunkers, Point White Pier, lunch in Lynwood, the old mill building at Blakely Harbor on the way back toward the boat. | Climbing the ruin. Frog Rock as the point of the day. A 7 p.m. dinner in Seattle. |
| Overnight in Lynwood | Do the south stops without watching the last boat. See the troll on the way in or the way out. | Five parks plus sunset at all of them. |
| Rain | Pia still photographs wet. Keep the bunker and mill-building stops short. Jacket on the boat deck anyway. | A long sit on painted concrete in street shoes. |
The day
If you walked onto the boat as a foot passenger, you still need a car, BI Ride where it actually goes, or a taxi / Uber / Lyft for the south end. BI Ride, Kitsap Transit’s cheap shuttle, is not a promise to Fort Ward or Blakely Harbor. Book the rides before you are stuck at a bunker with no plan.
Pia, then get in the car
Pia the Peacekeeper is the 18-foot troll in the woods at Sakai Park, 1560 Madison Avenue North. A little over a mile from the ferry on the trail beside Highway 305, or about half a mile from downtown via Madison. Tiny parking lot. Overflow at the Aquatic Center. Photos and hugs. Do not climb. Twenty to forty minutes including the walk from the lot. This is a stop, not the whole day.
South: bunkers, then the pier
Fort Ward bunkers graffiti is at the south end, 2201 Pleasant Beach Drive NE, inside the same park as the guns and the beach. Concrete from a 1903 coastal fort, now painted. Stay on your feet. Do not climb into unstable rooms. The park visit page is Fort Ward if you want the beach and the mailbox too. On this loop, the photo is the stop. Then move.
Point White Pier is at 3949 Crystal Springs Drive NE, west of Lynwood. Old passenger-ferry water. Olympics when the sky allows. A pier photo, not a swim beach and not a playground. Pull off, take it, leave room for neighbors who live there.
Lunch in Lynwood, then the old mill building
Treehouse Cafe at 4569 Lynwood Center Rd NE is the sit: pizza, a chair, restrooms. No reservation. Confirm hours. Island Cool Frozen Yogurt is also on Lynwood Center Road (4642), a different shop from the ice cream on Madrone Lane in downtown Winslow. Confirm it is actually open before you promise a cone.
Blakely Harbor generator house is the painted mill ruin at 10100 Three T Road NE. Harbor, mill story, graffiti. Photograph it from the beach. The concrete is unstable. Do not climb it. How to visit the park: Blakely Harbor.
Then drive back toward the ferry. Do not add Frog Rock “since we have the car” unless you already have leftover time. It is a painted boulder on the side of a road.
If it rains
Pia in a jacket is still the picture. Keep Fort Ward and Blakely Harbor short. Treehouse is the indoor sit. Do not wait in a bunker for light that is not coming.
Getting home
The mill building is not next to the ferry terminal.
The south end to the dock takes real minutes. When a ferry unloads, Highway 305 backs up. Be in the terminal earlier than you think. Check the schedule that morning. Live times are in the app.
Skip
- Climbing Pia, the bunkers, or the mill building. The photo from the ground is the one you want.
- Walking off the ferry with no ride for the south stops. You will spend the day on the troll and call it the loop.
- Treating this page as a second troll page. How to visit Pia stays on the troll page.
- Frog Rock as the reason you came. Roadside, one minute, then go.
- A 7 p.m. Seattle dinner after four photo stops.
FAQ
Do I need a car for the photo loop?
For the whole loop, yes. Pia the troll is a walk from the ferry. The Fort Ward bunkers, Point White Pier, lunch in Lynwood, and the old mill building at Blakely Harbor are not. BI Ride, Kitsap Transit’s cheap shuttle, does not promise Fort Ward or Blakely. Book a taxi, Uber, or Lyft, or bring a car.
Can I climb the troll or the graffiti buildings?
No. Hug Pia. Photograph the bunkers and the old mill building from the ground. The concrete at Blakely Harbor is unstable. The picture from the beach is the one you want.
Is this a second page about the troll?
No. How to visit Pia is on the Bainbridge Island troll page. Fort Ward and Blakely Harbor have their own visit pages. This page is the day that strings those photo stops together.
Where is Island Cool on this loop?
The frozen yogurt shop on this loop is on Lynwood Center Road, in the same village as Treehouse Cafe. That is not the ice cream shop on Madrone Lane in downtown Winslow. Confirm the Lynwood shop is open. If you only walked to the troll, the Winslow cone is the one you can walk to.
What if I only have three or four hours?
Stay on foot. Walk to the troll, walk through downtown Winslow, maybe get ice cream. Do not start driving to the south end. You will miss the boat or skip lunch.
On the phone
This same plan is in our free phone app, Explore Bainbridge. Download it on the ferry. Open the Itineraries tab and tap Insta Adventure.
The app shows a map of each stop. This page is the plan: the order, the car, and what to skip so you do not miss the boat to Seattle.
iPhone and Android. No account. explorebainbridge.com.
