North Sound

Cities

This region consists of Snohomish County and Island County. Broader definitions of "North Sound" sometimes extend north to include Skagit and Whatcom Counties, which Wikivoyage separates into Northwest Washington.

Snohomish County

• Everett — home to Boeing's largest assembly factory, where many of its wide-bodied aircraft are assembled in the world's largest building. The county seat and the largest city in the region.

South Snohomish County consists of small suburbs between Seattle (in neighboring King County) and Everett, as well as smaller towns along the Snohomish and Skykomish Rivers flowing into Everett:

• Edmonds — with a charming main street and seaside parks that frame the busy ferry terminal
• Lynnwood — the largest retail center north of Seattle
• Monroe — home of the Evergreen State Fair
• Mountlake Terrace — a small northern suburb along Interstate 5
• Mukilteo — the ferry terminal to Whidbey Island
• Snohomish — the Antique Capital of the Northwest
• Skykomish Valley (Sultan, Startup, Gold Bar, Baring, Index and Skykomish) — a series of small towns in the steep mountains on the way to Stevens Pass.

North Snohomish County is where Seattle's urban sprawl finally fades into rural agricultural and logging communities:

• Arlington
• Darrington — a logging town at the east entrance to the Mountain Loop Highway
• Granite Falls — a logging town at the west entrance to the Mountain Loop Highway
• Lake Stevens
• Marysville
• Stanwood

Island County

Island County consists of Whidbey Island and Camano Island:

• Camano Island
• Clinton
• Coupeville - county seat of Island County
• Freeland
• Greenbank
• Langley
• Oak Harbor - largest city in Island County

Other destinations

• Deception Pass State Park – the fast-flowing waterway between Whidbey and Fidalgo Islands, with over 4,100 acres of forest, beaches, campsites, trails, and scenic vistas. During low tides, the swift current can lead to standing waves, large whirlpools, and roiling eddies underneath the historic Deception Pass Bridge.
• Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve — historical features of the reserve appear to today's visitors much as they did a century ago, when New England sea captains were drawn to Penn Cove
• Mountain Loop Highway — a 52-mile scenic drive through some of the best camping and outdoors recreation in the region. This road runs between Granite Falls and Darrington on Forest Road 20.

Get in

By car

Interstate 5 (I-5) runs north-south through Everett to Mount Vernon in Skagit County and to Seattle in King County.

Interstate 405 (I-405) splits off east from I-5 in Lynnwood and heads through the Eastside (of Lake Washington), serving Kirkland and Bellevue until rejoining I-5 at Tukwila in the south.

US Highway 2 (US-2) begins from Everett and goes east through Lake Stevens, Monroe, Sultan and Gold Bar as it crosses the Cascades towards Leavenworth and Wenatchee.

By plane

• Paine Field in Everett serves a commercial airport for Alaska Airlines from major west coast cities.
• Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, (SEA), is still the largest airport in the area with connecting flights from all regions of the U.S. and the world, especially with frequent transpacific routes but, also from Europe, Mexico and the Middle East as well.

By boat

• Washington State Ferries (WSF) operates the following between Island and Snohomish Counties in the North Sound and to the Kitsap Peninsula in the other side of the Sound:

* Coupeville (Ft Casey State Park) and Port Townsend * Edmonds and Kingston * Mukilteo and Clinton All Washington State ferries are for both vehicles and passengers.

Get around

By public transit

The number of the route also tells you which area of the county it serves:

• Below 100 - Everett only. Buses within the City of Everett are operated by Everett Transit
• 100s - South Snohomish County: Lynnwood, Aurora Village, Bothell, Edmonds, Mukilteo, Mountlake Terrace, Mill Creek/Silver Firs
• 200s - North Snohomish County: Arlington, Marysville, Monroe, Stanwood, Tulalip, Lake Stevens, Gold Bar, Snohomish
• 300s - Reserved for King County Metro routes serving near the King-Snohomish County line in Aurora Village, Bothell, Mountlake Terrace, Shoreline and Woodinville
• 400s & 800s - Reserved for Community Transit commuter routes to Downtown Seattle and University District. This category includes Island Transit intercounty service to Snohomish County: Route 424 between Snohomish, Monroe, Woodinville and Seattle and Island Transit #412 from Camano Island to Everett are the only routes in this category
• 500s - Sound Transit routes operated by Community Transit are 510, 512, 513, 532, 535.
• 900s - Commuter routes from the Link Light Rail 1 Line train in Lynnwood to different places in Snohomish County. They replace the 400s and 800s bus routes to/from Seattle.
• Swift - operates as bus rapid in the area to serve fewer stops (spaced further apart), along the route on frequent schedules. Routes are identified by a color then by numbers.

• Link light rail operates in Seattle, traveling north to Lynnwood and south to Federal Way via Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on the 1 Line Train. Plans are underway to connect to the 2 Line in eastside King County in 2026.
• Sounder commuter rail service, operating weekday rush hours only, connects Seattle to Everett via Edmonds and Mukilteo on the 'N' Line train.
• Sound Transit has many convenient express bus routes that travel South (to Tacoma), East (Redmond, Bellevue), and North (Bothell, Lynnwood). Outside of the immediate Seattle-Bellevue area, many routes operate only during weekday rush hours. Check your schedules in advance, and beware of holiday service cutbacks. All Sound Transit routes have route numbers that are in the 500s.

ORCA Card

The ORCA card is a contactless fare card that enables you to ride and transfer seamlessly across most Puget Sound public transit agencies, including: King County Metro, Sound Transit, Community Transit, Everett Transit, Pierce Transit, Kitsap Transit, and Washington State Ferries. The card is $3, and you must put in a minimum of $5 in your e-purse to start using it. Day passes are available for $8 and can be used for all bus and train services. Monthly passes are also available. You can request a refund of unused e-purse funds.

By car

All but essential for reaching the outermost suburbs and mountains. In addition to the interstates and federal highways, major routes include: State Route 99 (WA-99) parallels the west side of I-5, linking Shoreline to Lynnwood and Everett. State Route 9 (WA-9) parallels the east side of I-5 from Woodinville through Snohomish and Arlington. State Route 525 (WA-525) connects the I-5/I-405 junction (exit 182 of I-5) to Keystone on Whidbey Island via Mukilteo-Clinton Ferry. From Keystone WA-20 continues back towards I-5 in Burlington via Deception Pass and Anacortes. In the other direction WA-20 goes from Keystone towards Port Townsend via Coupeville-Pt Townsend Ferry. Stanwood-Bryant Rd (WA-532) connects Camano Island and Stanwood to the I-5 corridor at exit 212.

Traffic congestion is a major problem in the Puget Sound area on all freeways and major roads. Avoid traveling during rush hour if you can, particularly along I-5 and I-405. US-2 also backs up on weekends, as people drive back home from outdoor recreation.

Go next

• The Northwest Washington region:
• Mt Vernon and La Conner in the Skagit Valley — home of the Tulip Festival
• Bellingham — the northernmost city in the contiguous US
• North Cascades National Park — jagged peaks, deep valleys, cascading waterfalls and over 300 glaciers
• Mount Baker — a ski resort with world-record snowfall in the shadow of a volcano
• Across Stevens Pass:
• Leavenworth — a "Bavarian" village in the heart of the Cascades
• Wenatchee — "The Apple Capital of the World"
• King County — Seattle, Bellevue, Bothell, Kirkland, Shoreline, Woodinville and Redmond
• Take a ferry to the Kitsap Peninsula
• The San Juan Islands — a scattering of forested islands in the serene waters north of Puget Sound. Ferries, yachts, kayaks, and orca whales criss-cross the waters, while float planes and bald eagles soar overhead