The Lost Valley Trail opened on October 1, 2026. It completes what the City of Bainbridge Island calls "the final link in Bainbridge Island's longest cross-island trail route," a continuous walk of about 6.8 miles from the ferry terminal in Winslow to Schel Chelb beach at Lynwood Center. Every announcement describes the route from the ferry outward. That direction leaves you at Lynwood Center in the afternoon. On weekdays the only scheduled bus from there to the ferry runs in the early morning, and on-demand service ends in mid-afternoon. A trail with no parking at any trailhead also comes with a timetable, and the timetable favors walking it the other way.
One Mile, Thirty Years in the Making
The new section is short. According to the City's September 18 announcement, the mostly wooded, mile-long Lost Valley Trail runs from Head of the Bay to Fletcher Bay Road across 40 acres of public open space. It includes 200 feet of boardwalk that protects the Cooper Creek watershed and keeps the trail usable in every season. Puget Sound Energy's May newsletter put the open space at 33 acres and describes the creek as salmon-bearing. The Park District's Trails Crew finished the boardwalk over the summer. That was the last piece the route needed.
Kitsap Sun reporting says the path follows an old logging road. It has been cleared of invasive weeds and passes some of the largest hemlocks on the island. The land came together slowly. Trail advocates proposed a "shore to shore" route from Winslow to Gazzam Lake Preserve in the 1990s. In 2004 the City used Open Space Bond funds to buy three properties and four trail easements at Head of the Bay. For years afterward, informal social trails crossed the land before anything was formally built. In 2022 the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation offered to fund the work. The City Council agreed, and the Park District signed an agreement to build trails on City property. The trail is owned by the City. The Foundation paid for it, and the Park District built the boardwalk.
The name dates to 2004. Members of the original City Open Space Commission picked it for the property's "valley-like terrain, unspoiled nature and sense of remoteness from surrounding roads and neighborhoods." Lost Valley also takes the island past 50 miles of official public trails. About 10 of those miles were added over the past decade.
The Full Crossing, Ferry to Beach
That one mile turns a set of separate trails into a single walk across the island. Here are the pieces in the order the Foundation and the City describe them:
- Charles Schmid Waterfront Trail, starting from the ferry terminal in Winslow.
- Head of the Bay, where the Lost Valley trailhead sits on the lane just west of the junction of Wyatt Way and NE Eagle Harbor Drive.
- Lost Valley Trail, about a mile through the Cooper Creek watershed to Fletcher Bay Road. Side access points are at Carmella Lane, off Finch Road, to the north and Ridge Lane to the south.
- Kojima Trail and the Vincent Road to Gazzam Lake Trail, which the Foundation and the Park District built to carry the route west.
- Gazzam Lake Nature Preserve, 445 acres and the largest open space on the route.
- Schel Chelb, a constructed two-acre wetland near Lynwood Center. It was built to restore tidal flushing and fish access to the Pleasant Beach watershed.
There is also a shorter version. If you start at Rotary Park on Weaver Road, the walk to Schel Chelb by way of Lost Valley and Gazzam Lake is about 5.1 miles.
Barb Trafton, the Foundation's trails director, described how people already use the route:
"People have said, 'I use this trail to walk into Winslow to get groceries,' or I know somebody else that has told me that his son was using this trail to ride to school. It's not this big, fancy alternative transportation trail, but it does allow access of all sorts."
No Parking at Any of the Four Trailheads
Trafton's examples are about getting around without a car, and the trail is set up for that. The four Lost Valley trailheads are on the east side of Fletcher Bay Road, at the north end of Ridge Lane, on Carmella Lane off Finch Road, and on the lane just west of Head of the Bay. Each is marked with a "Public Trail" sign. None of them has public parking. You reach the route on foot or by bicycle. Even the October 1 dedication relied on off-site parking and a shuttle.
For a short out-and-back from home, this barely matters. For the full crossing it matters a great deal, because a one-way walk with no car at either end depends on a ride back. Bicycles can use the Lost Valley access points. The Park District lists hiking, biking, and horses as allowed uses at Gazzam Lake, and its park rules require dogs to stay on leash at all times. The sources reviewed for this post did not include a separate dog or bike rule for Lost Valley itself.
The Bus Back From Lynwood Sets the Schedule
If you walk from the ferry and finish at Schel Chelb, getting back to Winslow depends on Kitsap Transit. Kitsap Transit's fixed Route 397, Crystal Springs, stops at Lynwood Center and runs weekdays only. Under the schedule in effect since March 15, 2026, its trips from Lynwood toward the ferry leave at 4:54, 5:52, 6:32, 7:26, and 8:16 a.m. No scheduled trip serves someone finishing a walk in the afternoon.
The on-demand services cover the rest of the day. BI Ride costs $2 or less and can be booked in the Ride Pingo app or by phone. Sunday on-demand service also serves Lynwood Center and the ferry dock.
| Day | Service | Hours | Fine print |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekdays | BI Ride | 8:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. | Last ferry-terminal pickup at 3:15 p.m., last drop-off at 3:50 p.m. |
| Saturday | BI Ride | 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. | After 4 p.m., book in the app. Phone bookings must be made before 4 p.m. |
| Sunday | Sunday on-demand | 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Book through Ride Pingo or by phone |
Saturday gives you the longest window, and that window has an end date. Kitsap Transit says BI Ride runs an hour later, until 7 p.m., to support the Route 385 downtown shuttle through March 2027. When Route 385 ends, Saturday BI Ride service will stop at 6 p.m. On a weekday, a walker leaving the ferry has to cover the whole route and still book a ride before service ends in mid-afternoon.
Start at Lynwood Center Instead
The schedule points to walking the route in reverse. You take the ride out at the start of the day, while on-demand service is running and you have no deadline. Then you walk northeast through Gazzam Lake, Lost Valley, and Head of the Bay, and finish at the ferry terminal in Winslow. You end where the island's transportation is, with no booking deadline at the finish.
That also puts Lynwood Center at the start of the day, when you want coffee. The Marketplace changed hands in early 2025, and the new owners added Greek specialties to the menu. It now operates as Marketplace + By The Glass, with a café and coffee bar, dinner service, and a wine bar. By The Glass is the new name for the former Earth & Vine. In October 2024 the Bainbridge Island Review reported that Marketplace had cut its evening service and Earth & Vine had closed for the season. Both have since come back under the new names.
Walking the other direction still works with a little planning. The Historic Lynwood Theatre is still showing films. On October 8 its listings show The Weight at 4:35 and 7 p.m. A Saturday walk that ends at Schel Chelb, followed by an early showing, fits inside the 7 p.m. BI Ride window for as long as that window lasts. The Inn at Pleasant Beach, across the road, is advertising a seasonal offer through October 30, 2026.
Starting at Rotary Park on Weaver Road gives you the 5.1-mile version without the waterfront section. It also adds a different problem. The Park District lists accessible parking at Rotary Park. The Foundation's Rotary Park parking and shuttle directions, however, were written for the dedication event, not for everyday use. Walkers who come from Winslow on foot avoid that question, which is how the route was planned. It took from the 1990s until October 2026 to finish, and it was designed to run from the ferry to the far shore without a car.
The Foundation's full dedication release includes the cross-island route map.
The access points on Carmella Lane, Ridge Lane, and Fletcher Bay Road put the island's new trail within walking distance of the homes around them. If you'd like to know how the Lost Valley corridor shows up in Bainbridge home values, or want an early look at island properties near the cross-island route before they reach the public market, Lisa Turnure can share that discreetly. Receive Exclusive Listings.
