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Bike, hike, wine & dine Lummi Island

Bellingham, WA, USA    created by Elizabeth Mulligan Hartsoch   Rating: 

We rode from Bellingham to the Lummi Ferry dock (see note about detour below), and walked on the 11:00 am ferry with our bikes. If you ride to the ferry dock, I recommend taking the Lummi Shore Road route, it's far more beautiful and there are fewer and slower cars.
Once on the island, we rode counter-clockwise on Nugent road to the Willows Inn and had lunch at the Taproot Cafe. The website for the cafe claims it opens at 11, but it actually opens at noon. The ride is beautiful and the roads are bike friendly, with some rolling hills and little traffic. Lunch was great, including beers on tap and a delicious tomato, basil, avocado and fresh mozzarella sandwich.
Continued around the island. Near the intersection with Sunrise there was a "no beach fires" sign on the right, and I suspect a public beach down the trail, but we did not stop to check it out.
We rode over Sunrise Road, and right on Seacrest to the Baker Preserve trail. Hiked 1.6 miles to the overlook which has great views to the west/northwest. You can continue on the trail along the ridge for a while, but we did not find further views, and the trail eventually enters private property before reaching the high point at Lummi Peak, so I recomment just going out and back to the overlook.
Hiked down and rode back along Seacrest, left on Sunrise to the Artisan Wine Gallery for their 4-7pm wine tasting. Tasting is $5. I was really impressed by the affordability of most of the wines. Many bottles under $25 (would have taken some home if I had any room in my pack, so bring an extra pack if you like wine). The conversation was good too, the gentleman working there is charming and has a ton of experience in the wine industry: as a sommelier and a wine importer in the US and abroad. The tasting room is upstairs, but if you get there when it's open there will be a sign on the road and an open door.
After the wine we weaved our way to the Beach Store Cafe. I don't recommend the fish tacos, but if I went again I'd try the pizza, their wood-fire oven looked legit.
If you're interested in beaches, a couple of locals told us you park at "the church" and walk down the trail behind it to a public beach. Did not confirm, nor do I know the location of "the church".
Some resources:
Ferry schedule: http://www.co.whatcom.wa.us/publicworks/ferry/schedule.jsp
Taproot Cafe: http://www.willows-inn.com/taproot.php
Baker Preserve Trail: http://www.liht.org/
Artisan Wine Gallery: http://www.artisanwineclub.com/

We did this as a car-free day, but you can drive to the ferry dock and ride on the ferry. There is currently a traffic detour on Marine Drive near Lummi Shore Road. Marine Drive is closed for upgrades. Detour is LONG (on a bike), Ferndale Road, Slater Road, then take S River Rd and Haxton Wy. There's a lot of fast moving traffic on these roads, so be careful. We cut through the closed road on the way home after the construction crew had left, and I can tell you they are not joking about the work. It was not easy to get through and probably not particularly safe (or legal).
Credits for this day to Brian Mulligan and Mike McQuaide! Thanks, it was fun.

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