The 'Guemes Island Ferry Trail' (GIFT) will be a safe path from the Guemes ferry to Schoolhouse Park on Guemes Island. The eventual 1.5 mile trail will allow walkers and bikers to safely travel parallel to Guemes Island Road. This trail is the brainchild of the Guemes Island Ferry Trail Committee, who for the past eight years have brought together partnerships and resources to make the path a reality.

Skagit County Parks and Recreation and Skagit Land Trust, represented by Jack Hartt, joined the effort several years ago to help secure the access agreements and permits needed. The team recently worked with volunteers from the community and Skagit-Whatcom-Island Trail Maintaining Organization (SWITMO) to get the first 450 feet of trail constructed.

“We had about 15 people working on it, two neighbors donating their tractors, two donating dump trucks, and the fire department donating hose time to water the trail down,” Hartt said. “Lots of people came over as they sat in the ferry line and said how much they appreciated what we were doing!”

Here are a few pictures from the three days of work. The GIFT Committee says that next steps involve getting affordable engineered drawings completed, and then submitting permitting requests to Skagit County to continue the trail the rest of the way for phase one, about 1,450 feet to go.

Please read the recent article from Linetime for more information about Guemes Ferry Trail Project.