Bainbridge's Longest Trail Runs One Way, So Plan the Ride Back First

The Lost Valley Trail opened on October 1. It filled the last gap in a public route that now runs nearly 6.8 miles from the Bainbridge ferry terminal to Schel Chelb beach at Lynwood Center. None of the four Lost Valley trailheads has public parking, and you have to reach the trail on foot or by bike at every access point. So it isn't a loop you drive to. You walk it one way, and Kitsap Transit's BI Ride schedule decides how you get home. That matters most from now through winter, when the weekday ride service stops by mid-afternoon.

What Lost Valley finished

The new piece is about a mile long, mostly wooded, and runs from the Head of the Bay to Fletcher Bay Road across 40 acres of public open space. It includes 200 feet of boardwalk, which the City says protects the Cooper Creek watershed and keeps the trail open in every season. The Park District and its Summer Trails Crew built the boardwalk this past summer. The Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation paid for it, with grants from the Bainbridge Community Foundation and the Rotary Club of Bainbridge Island.

The land has been waiting a long time. In 2004 the City used Open Space Bond funds to buy three properties and four trail easements at the Head of the Bay. Over the next two decades, informal social trails formed, but no official route was ever built or adopted. Members of the City's Open Space Commission chose the name in 2004 because the land felt like a valley, unspoiled and remote from the roads around it.

In the City's announcement, Parks & Trails Foundation Executive Director Mary Meier said, "Lost Valley pushes us past the 50-mile mark for public trails islandwide." The full cross-island route uses trails built at both ends of the valley. From east to west, the Parks & Trails Foundation's route description strings them together like this:

1. The Charles Schmid Waterfront Trail in Winslow, starting from the ferry terminal
2. The Head of the Bay trailhead, on the lane just west of where Wyatt Way meets NE Eagle Harbor Drive
3. Lost Valley itself, with the boardwalk and side trailheads at Ridge Lane and Carmella Lane
4. The Fletcher Bay Road trailhead, on the east side of the road north of Vincent Road
5. The Kojima Trail and the Vincent Road to Gazzam Lake Trail
6. Gazzam Lake Nature Preserve, down to Schel Chelb beach at Lynwood Center

The longest one-way route on the island used to be Manitou through Grand Forest to Battle Point Park and Fairy Dell Trail, at 4.69 miles. Even starting from Rotary Park on Weaver Road, the new route beats that at about 5.1 miles to Schel Chelb. Look for the "Public Trail" signs at each trailhead.

Four trailheads with no parking

Because of the parking rules, you'll start and finish where cars are allowed or where the ferry and buses already stop. The Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District lists these options at the ends of the route:

• Rotary Park, 969 Weaver Road. The 5.1-mile starting point. The park is open dawn to dusk, and vehicles must stay in designated areas. The shuttle and lower-lot parking the Foundation advertised were for the October 1 dedication only.
• Gazzam Lake, 6105 NE Marshall Road. Room for eight cars.
• Gazzam Lake, Deerpath Lane NE. Room for four cars. The District says this south access is reached off Baker Hill Road and calls parking at both Gazzam access points very limited.
• Schel Chelb Park, 7595 Heron Hall Lane NE. The western end of the route. It's a 1.64-acre park with 370 feet of saltwater shoreline, a swimming beach, a playground, accessible parking, and a trail into the Gazzam network.

That works out to twelve listed spaces at Gazzam for the whole western half of the route. The eastern end needs no parking at all, because it starts at the ferry dock. The Foundation also says the terrain may not work for wheeled mobility devices. You can reach the City's ADA Coordinator at [email protected] for accessibility details or accommodations.

The bus decides how far you walk

The route only goes one way, so the ride back sets how you plan the day. Kitsap Transit's BI Ride covers both the Bainbridge Island Ferry Dock and Lynwood Center. You can request a ride now or book up to seven days ahead, by phone or through the Ride Pingo app. Its hours change a lot by day:

Saturday is the only day the service runs past 4 p.m. Kitsap Transit says BI Ride is staying open until 7 p.m. to support the Route 385 downtown shuttle through March 2027, and that it will end at 6 p.m. once that shuttle stops. On a short November weekday, a walk from the ferry that finishes at Schel Chelb leaves little room before service ends.

Direction matters too. Kitsap Transit says that once BI Ride ends, routed buses still run from marked stops in downtown Winslow, and you can flag them down at any safe roadside spot elsewhere on the island. If you take BI Ride to Lynwood Center in the morning and walk east toward the ferry, you finish where transit keeps running. If you walk west from the ferry, you finish at the south end and need the on-demand ride to come get you. Kitsap Transit also notes its buses can't drive some streets, so check the service area map for your pickup point. The schedule on that page is marked effective June 8, 2025, so check it before you set out.

What's at the Lynwood Center end

Whichever way you walk, Lynwood Center is one end of the route, and it's a good place to start or finish. The anchor is Walt's Lynwood Market at 4759 Lynwood Center Road NE, which has a deli, coffee, groceries, and beer and wine. The market is changing hands. The Bainbridge Island Review reported on October 8 that after 34 years, Walt Hannon is transferring ownership to his son and daughter-in-law, Tyler and Alexandra Hannon. They expect the transfer to finalize within a few months and plan a grand reopening under the new ownership next spring.

The Review also reported that Tyler Hannon nearly lost the chance to keep the store in the family, because his father first considered selling to an outside buyer. Tyler told the paper:

"Dad, any other buyer that's gonna come in is gonna change the name, but if you sell the store to me, I contractually will commit to keeping it Walt's as long as I live."

His plans include a new point-of-sale system, possibly an expanded deli and hot food section, and buying from island farms. The pinball machines and arcade games that have been in the store since the early 1990s are staying. The Review notes that a market has stood on this site since the 1950s, if not earlier. Lynwood Center itself dates to the 1930s, when south end residents Edne and Emanuel Olson established it.

Other stops within a short walk of the trail's end:

• Pane d'Amore, 4569 Lynwood Center Road NE. Open Tuesday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., so plan around it if you want a pastry before an early walk east.
• Treehouse Café, also at 4569 Lynwood Center Road NE, with food, drinks and live music.
• The Historic Lynwood Theatre, same address. Showtimes are posted on the Faraway Entertainment page.
• Hammy's Burgers, 4688 Lynwood Center Road NE in Pleasant Beach Village.
• Marketplace + By The Glass, 4738 Lynwood Center Road NE, serving coffee, breakfast, lunch and dinner, with a bar and wine for sale.

Fall dates worth timing a walk around

A few dates on the south end calendar make finishing at Lynwood Center worth planning for:

• Saturday, November 7. The Steve Hall Band plays the Treehouse Café.
• Saturday, November 14. Gobblefest at the Treehouse Café runs from 4 to 11 p.m. with local bands, food and drinks, and proceeds go to Helpline House. It falls on a Saturday, the one day BI Ride runs until 7 p.m., so you could walk west in the afternoon and still catch the music.
• Friday, November 27. Pleasant Beach Village holds its Signature Gingerbread Decorating Experience at the Manor House from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with gingerbread kits, cocoa and cider.
• Saturday, December 5. A second gingerbread session runs from 10 a.m. to noon.

Gobblefest is the one that fits the bus schedule best. Leave the ferry terminal on foot late on a Saturday morning, walk the Waterfront Trail and the Head of the Bay boardwalk, come down through Gazzam to the beach at Schel Chelb, and you'll reach Lynwood Center about when the bands start.

I love helping neighbors find a new favorite stretch of Kitsap, and Lost Valley is the walk I'd suggest to anyone on Bainbridge this fall. If you're trying to figure out which parts of the island keep the trail within walking distance of your front door, I'd be glad to share what I know. Explore properties and get your home value with Ashley Grimes.