US Ferry Highways, Puget Sound, Islands & Great Lakes

The crown jewel of Washington State Ferries, North America’s largest ferry system. Glides across Puget Sound with unmatched views of the Seattle skyline, Mount Rainier, and the Olympic Mountains.

Washington State Ferries’ scenic route through the San Juan Islands to Friday Harbor, known for orca-watching, Lime Kiln Point and lavender farms. Direct sailings are quicker; inter-island sailings call at Lopez and Orcas.

The year-round car ferry from Cape Cod to Martha’s Vineyard, run by the Steamship Authority. Vehicle space in summer is famously limited, so most visitors go as foot passengers and use the island’s buses and bikes.

The ferry from Cape Cod to Nantucket, 30 miles out to sea. Choose a one-hour fast ferry or the slower Steamship Authority car ferry; cars on Nantucket need reservations far in advance.

The fast ferry from Long Beach to Avalon on Catalina Island, about an hour off the Los Angeles coast. It is popular for day trips and weekends of snorkelling, hiking and golf-cart touring.

The short hop from Mukilteo, north of Seattle, to Clinton at the south end of Whidbey Island. It is the quickest way onto Whidbey for Langley, Coupeville and the drive north to Deception Pass.

The ferry from West Seattle to the north end of Vashon Island, the rural island in southern Puget Sound with no bridge to the mainland. It is part of the “triangle route” that also serves Southworth on the Kitsap Peninsula.

A 15-minute crossing from Tacoma’s Point Defiance Park to Tahlequah at the southern tip of Vashon Island. It gives Tacoma drivers direct access to Vashon and a back route to West Seattle via the Fauntleroy ferry.

The crossing of Admiralty Inlet between Victorian Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula and Coupeville on central Whidbey Island. Together with the Mukilteo–Clinton ferry it forms a scenic loop around northern Puget Sound.

The San Juan Islands ferry from Anacortes to Orcas Island, the largest and hilliest of the San Juans, home to Moran State Park and Mount Constitution. Sailings weave through the archipelago, some stopping at Shaw or Lopez on the way.

The first stop in the San Juan Islands, Lopez is the flattest of the islands and popular with cyclists and quiet-weekend visitors. The ferry from Anacortes reaches the Upright Head terminal in under an hour.

The main ferry to car-free Mackinac Island, where horses, bicycles and walking are the only ways to get around. Some “Mighty Mac” departures detour under the Mackinac Bridge on the way.

The Upper Peninsula approach to Mackinac Island, sailing from St. Ignace on the north side of the Straits. It suits travellers arriving from the U.P. or staying north of the bridge.

The car ferry from the Marblehead Peninsula to Kelleys Island, the largest American island in Lake Erie, known for its glacial grooves and quiet shoreline.

The vehicle ferry to South Bass Island and the party village of Put-in-Bay, home of Perry’s Victory monument, sailing from the tip of Catawba Island near Port Clinton.

The state ferry across Penobscot Bay to Vinalhaven, a year-round island community and working lobster port.

The state ferry from Rockland to North Haven, a small summer-colony island across the Fox Islands Thorofare from Vinalhaven.

The short state ferry from Lincolnville Beach to Islesboro, a long, narrow island in upper Penobscot Bay.

The state ferry from Bass Harbor on the “quiet side” of Mount Desert Island, near Acadia National Park, to Swan’s Island, a lobstering community six miles offshore.

The year-round ferry from the fishing port of Galilee at Point Judith to Block Island, the Rhode Island summer island known for its bluffs and beaches.

Seastreak’s seasonal fast ferry from New Bedford to Martha’s Vineyard, an alternative to the Cape Cod ferries that avoids Cape traffic for travellers coming from Boston’s South Coast, Providence or New York.

Seastreak’s seasonal high-speed service from New Bedford to Nantucket, a direct mainland link to the island that skips the drive down Cape Cod to Hyannis.

The free car ferry across Hatteras Inlet that carries NC 12 from Hatteras Island to Ocracoke, part of the Outer Banks National Scenic Byway.

The long Pamlico Sound crossing from Cedar Island, at the end of US 70 east of Beaufort, to Ocracoke village — the southern gateway to the Outer Banks.

The state ferry from Swan Quarter on the Hyde County mainland to Ocracoke village, the shortest drive-and-sail route to Ocracoke from inland North Carolina.

Catalina Express’s main Los Angeles departure for Avalon, sailing from the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro. Some sailings call at Two Harbors on Catalina’s isthmus.

The Orange County departure for Catalina Island, sailing from Dana Point Harbor to Avalon. It is the closest option for visitors staying in Orange County or San Diego County.

The Inter-Island Ferry Authority’s daily car ferry from Ketchikan to Hollis on Prince of Wales Island, one of the largest islands in Southeast Alaska.

The mainline ferry route to Sitka on Baranof Island, a town on the outer coast of the Inside Passage with a blend of Tlingit culture and Russian history, including St Michael’s Cathedral.

Juneau’s ferry link to Hoonah on Chichagof Island, 48 nautical miles away across Icy Strait. The island’s logging roads give access to silver and king salmon, cutthroat and rainbow trout fishing.

The ferry to Angoon, the Tlingit village on Admiralty Island known for its large brown bear population and as a starting point for the Admiralty Island National Monument canoe route.

The occasional state ferry to Tenakee Springs on the north shore of Chichagof Island’s Tenakee Inlet, 63 nautical miles from Juneau.

The mainline ferry between Juneau and Petersburg on Mitkof Island, where Wrangell Narrows meets Frederick Sound. LeConte Glacier, Alaska’s southernmost tidewater glacier, is 25 miles away.

A mainline leg through the twisting Wrangell Narrows between Petersburg and Wrangell, the island town at the mouth of the Stikine River. Many sailings pass at night.

The mainline leg north from Ketchikan up Clarence Strait to Wrangell near the Stikine River delta.

The overnight Inside Passage mainline between Alaska’s two biggest Panhandle towns, calling at Wrangell and Petersburg on the way through the Narrows. Cabins are available on the mainline ships.

The dedicated AMHS shuttle from Ketchikan to Annette Island, home of Metlakatla, Alaska’s only Indian reservation, where most residents are Tsimshian.

The overnight Tustumena run across the mouth of Cook Inlet from the end of the Homer Spit to Kodiak, the largest island in Alaska and the second largest in the United States.

The Tustumena’s overnight sailing from Homer to Port Lions in Settler’s Cove on Kodiak Island’s north-east coast, before continuing to Ouzinkie and Kodiak.

The Tustumena links Kodiak with Ouzinkie, a small village on Spruce Island just north of Kodiak, on its regular runs between Kodiak, Port Lions and Homer.

One of the great ferry voyages of North America: the Tustumena sails from Homer via Kodiak and the Alaska Peninsula villages of Chignik, Sand Point, King Cove, Cold Bay, False Pass and Akutan to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands.

The LeConte connects Juneau with Kake, a village on Kupreanof Island in central Southeast Alaska, on occasional direct runs and on longer loops via Tenakee Springs and Angoon.

Pelican, a small fishing village on Lisianski Inlet on Chichagof Island, gets an occasional state ferry from Juneau: the LeConte makes the seven-hour run and turns round the same afternoon.