Local guide

Bainbridge Island Day Trip from Olalla Bay

Bainbridge Island is about 45 minutes from Olalla Bay by car, and you do not need the Seattle ferry to get there. Drive north through Port Orchard, take SR 3 toward Poulsbo, then SR 305 south across the Agate Pass Bridge onto the island. What waits on the other side is the most layered day trip in Kitsap: a free art museum, a history museum in a 1908 schoolhouse, a memorial to the first Japanese Americans forcibly removed under Executive Order 9066, a 150-acre garden estate, an 18-foot wooden troll, and a waterfront downtown built for walking.

Skip the ferry line. Drive onto the island from the Kitsap side.

By Assaf, the Olalla Bay editor. Updated October 2026.

Bainbridge Island viewed from the ferry approaching Eagle Harbor, trees and shoreline under a pale sky
Bainbridge Island viewed from the water, approaching Eagle Harbor. Photo: Kayamon / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Most Bainbridge Island guides start in Seattle. They tell you to queue at Colman Dock, ride the ferry, and walk off in Winslow. That is a fine trip, but it is not your trip. From Olalla Bay, the island is a drive, not a ferry ride, and the drive changes the day. You arrive from the north end, over a steel bridge, with the whole island in front of you and no boat schedule to beat. The Seattle crowds thin out. The island feels less like a destination and more like a neighbor you finally got around to visiting.

Bainbridge earns the drive. It is the island where pickleball was invented in a backyard in 1965, where 227 Japanese American neighbors were taken away in 1942 and where more than half came back, where a timber family spent thirty years turning logged land into one of the great American gardens, and where a Danish artist left an 18-foot troll in the woods. Winslow, the downtown, is ten blocks of galleries, bookstores, bakeries, and restaurants along Eagle Harbor. This guide covers the places worth the drive, in an order that makes sense from the Kitsap side.

The drive: how to get there

From Olalla Bay, drive north through Port Orchard to Gorst, take SR 3 north toward Poulsbo, then SR 305 south across the Agate Pass Bridge onto the island. The route is about 16 miles and takes about 45 minutes depending on traffic. The bridge itself is part of the experience: a 1,229-foot steel cantilever truss that opened in October 1950, replacing a car ferry that had run since the 1920s. It carried a toll for its first year, then went free. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Do not stop on the bridge for photos. There are pullouts on either side.

Once over the bridge, SR 305 runs south through the island to Winslow, about seven miles from the bridge to the ferry terminal. Bloedel Reserve is on the north end, near the bridge. The Exclusion Memorial is on the east shore, near the Eagledale ferry dock. Winslow, BIMA, the History Museum, and KiDiMu cluster at the south end, around the ferry terminal. Fay Bainbridge Park is on the northeast shore. Plan your stops north to south, or south to north, and you will not backtrack.

One note on parking: Winslow parking is tight on summer weekends and event days. Bloedel Reserve parking is free but limited. Pia the Peacekeeper has about four stalls at Sakai Park, with overflow across Madison Avenue at the Aquatic Center. Arrive early for Bloedel and the troll, and park once in Winslow and walk.

Winslow: the downtown

Winslow is the downtown, and it is the reason most people come. The main street, Winslow Way, runs about ten blocks from the ferry terminal uphill past galleries, a bookstore, bakeries, and restaurants, with Eagle Harbor on one side. The town is named for shipbuilder Winslow Hall. It was incorporated in 1947, annexed the rest of the island in 1991, and took the name City of Bainbridge Island. The ferry terminal sits at the east end of Winslow Way, and the whole downtown is walkable from it.

Walk Winslow first if you arrive mid-morning. Get coffee, browse the galleries, and orient yourself. The two museums below are both in or beside Winslow, and the waterfront walk along Eagle Harbor is the thread that ties the downtown together. Save lunch for after the museums, and eat on the waterfront if the weather holds.

Museums: BIMA, History Museum, KiDiMu

Bainbridge Island Museum of Art (BIMA)

The best free museum in Kitsap. BIMA presents contemporary art and craft from the Puget Sound region through rotating exhibitions and a growing collection. It opened in June 2013 and has served nearly 450,000 visitors. Admission is free, and it is open daily, 10am to 5pm, 363 days a year. The museum rotates three exhibitions a year, and the programming around them includes artist talks, film series, concerts, classes, and community celebrations. The building is LEED Gold certified, with a light-filled bistro and a shop of regional art and craft. Plan about an hour. It sits at the corner of Winslow Way and Highway 305, a short walk from the ferry terminal.

Practical details: BIMA

Bainbridge History Museum

The island story, in a 1908 schoolhouse. The Bainbridge History Museum preserves and shares the diverse stories of Bainbridge Island, from Native American roots through the timber industry, the strawberry farms, the Japanese American community, and the invention of pickleball. Admission is free. The galleries are compact and well curated, with artifacts, photographs, and interactive exhibits. The museum also carries the story of the Japanese American exclusion in its award-winning exhibit Kodomo No Tame Ni, For the Sake of the Children, which pairs naturally with a visit to the Exclusion Memorial later in the day. Plan about an hour. Check in when you arrive, since funding is based on visitor numbers.

Practical details: Bainbridge History Museum

Kids Discovery Museum (KiDiMu)

If you have kids under eight, this is your stop. KiDiMu is a hands-on children's museum built around playful learning, with a pirate treehouse, a pretend town with a grocery store and bank, STEM spaces, an art studio, and an outdoor play area. It is sized for toddlers through early elementary, not for older kids. It shares a plaza with BIMA, so one parent can do art while the other does the treehouse, then swap. Check the museum site for current hours before you go, since they vary by season. The museum also runs a first-Friday pay-what-you-will evening.

Practical details: KiDiMu

The Exclusion Memorial: the stop that matters most

On March 30, 1942, 227 Japanese Americans living on Bainbridge Island were gathered at the Eagledale Ferry Dock and forcibly removed from the island. They were the first Japanese Americans on the West Coast to be excluded under Executive Order 9066, signed by President Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. The island's proximity to naval bases made its Japanese American residents the first to be taken. They were given six days notice. They were first incarcerated at Manzanar in California, then transferred to Minidoka in Idaho. About 150 returned to the island after the war. Many neighbors had kept in touch through letters the whole time, and many welcomed them back.

The memorial stands at the site of the former Eagledale Ferry Dock, on an eight-acre parcel at Pritchard Park overlooking Eagle Harbor. Its center is a 276-foot curved wall of old-growth red cedar, granite, and basalt, inscribed with the names of the 276 Nikkei, Japanese emigrants and their descendants, who lived on the island at the start of the war. The wall was designed by architect Johnpaul Jones and opened to the public on July 30, 2011. Terracotta friezes by Seattle artist Steve Gardner show scenes of residents boarding the ferries. Metal hooks along the wall hold origami cranes left by visitors, symbols of peace and healing. The guiding message is Nidoto Nai Yoni: Let It Not Happen Again.

Walk the wall slowly. A crushed-stone path retraces the route the exiled residents walked to the dock. Low boulders along the path are grouped at seat height for rest and reflection. At the harbor end stands Departure Gate, a 2022 installation inspired by photographs taken on the day of removal. A cedar tree that witnessed the event still stands beside the former dock. A self-guided tour covers 16 stops, and an audio tour is available through the National Park Service app. The memorial is a unit of the Minidoka National Historic Site. A Visitor Center with indoor exhibits, programs, and space for reflection was dedicated on October 11, 2026, with an outdoor amphitheater and plaza. Volunteer docents from the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community lead guided tours for school, community, family, and organizational groups.

This is not a quick photo stop. Give it an hour. Read the names. Read the ages. The memorial does not sensationalize. It lists, it shows, and it lets the scale of 227 neighbors taken from one small island speak for itself. Pair it with the History Museum exhibit beforehand, and the two together give the fullest account of this history anywhere in Washington.

Practical details: Japanese American Exclusion Memorial

Pia the Peacekeeper: the troll in the woods

Pia the Peacekeeper is an 18-foot troll in the woods at Sakai Park, built from recycled wood by Danish artist Thomas Dambo and a volunteer crew. She sits cross-legged with arms open, inviting visitors to step into her cupped hands for a photo. She is the first of the Northwest trolls in Dambo's Way of the Bird King project, which also placed trolls in West Seattle, Ballard, Vashon, Issaquah, and Portland. Pia is public art, not a jungle gym: photos and hugs yes, climbing no. She is meant to weather in place.

The walk from the Sakai Park lot into the trees takes a few minutes. Budget twenty to forty minutes total including the walk. Kids will linger. The park has about four stalls, with overflow across Madison Avenue at the Aquatic Center. From Winslow it is about half a mile via Madison Avenue, or a little over a mile on the Sound to Olympics trail beside Highway 305. Combine Pia with a Winslow morning or an afternoon at Fay Bainbridge Park.

Practical details: Pia the Peacekeeper

Bloedel Reserve: the garden estate

Bloedel Reserve is the reason to start early. It is a 150-acre estate on the north end of the island, a place of designed gardens and natural forest built for contemplation. Prentice Bloedel, a timber industry leader, and his wife Virginia bought the estate in 1951. The house, called Collinswood, was built in 1931 for Angela Collins, widow of Seattle's fourth mayor, and designed by J. Lister Holmes. The surrounding land had been repeatedly logged and was in poor condition. Over thirty years, the Bloedels turned it into a layered series of landscapes with landscape architects including Thomas Church, Richard Haag, Koichi Kawana, Fujitaro Kubota, and Iain Robertson. They donated the property to the University of Washington in 1970. The Arbor Fund, established in 1974, bought it in 1985, and it opened to the public in 1988.

Walk it in order. The Japanese Garden, designed by Kubota in 1956 with no preset plans, has a pond excavated so the soil could form mounds representing mountains, and it has twice been named one of the top ten Japanese gardens in the United States. The Moss Garden, by Haag, is a green carpet under second-growth forest. The Reflection Pool is a simple rectangle framed by sculpted hedge, a place to stand still. The Bird Marsh connects the northern gardens to the woodlands to the south. The manor house is now a visitor center with a library of botany and horticulture books. The poet Theodore Roethke died on the grounds in 1963, a sad footnote to a place built for renewal. Allow two to three hours, and wear shoes for unpaved paths.

Timed tickets are recommended. The Reserve is open 10am to 5pm Tuesday through Sunday, with a suggested last entry of 3:30pm. It is closed Mondays. Pets are not allowed on the grounds. Parking is free but limited. The first Wednesday of each month is a pay-what-you-wish Welcome Wednesday. Check the Reserve site for current hours and ticket details before you go.

Practical details: Bloedel Reserve

Fay Bainbridge Park: beach and views

Fay Bainbridge Park is the island's best beach for a day visitor. It is a 17-acre park on the northeast shore with 1,420 feet of saltwater shoreline, a sandy and gravel beach, a meadow with picnic tables, a volleyball court, and a pirate ship playground. On clear days you can see Seattle, the Cascades, Mount Rainier, and Mount Baker across Puget Sound. The park is also a Whale Trail site, with harbor seals, harbor porpoises, and river otters common, and the best orca viewing in fall and winter.

The land was purchased in 1944 from the estate of Temple S. Fay, a neurosurgeon who taught at the University of Washington, for $5,000, with the stipulation that the park keep the Fay name. It transferred from the Washington State Park System to the Bainbridge Island park district in 2011. The park also has cabins, RV sites, and tent campsites if you want to turn the day trip into an overnight. For a day visit, bring a beach chair, walk the shoreline, and watch the ferries cross.

Practical details: Fay Bainbridge Park

Where to eat in Winslow

Winslow eats well for ten blocks. A few verified picks, all walkable from the ferry terminal:

Doc's Marina Grill

Waterfront bar and grill on the marina with a heated deck and panoramic harbor views. Fish and chips, clam chowder, burgers, and a crab Louie salad. The deck is the draw on a clear day.

The Harbour Public House

Historic waterfront gastropub in a converted homestead, with a deck, fire pits, and Washington microbrews and wines on tap. Clam chowder, fish and chips, smoked salmon tartine, mussels. Note: 21 and over only.

Proper Fish

British-style fish and chips with hand-cut, twice-cooked chips, minty mushy peas, and house-made tartar sauce, plus fish tacos, a lobster roll, and fried oysters. Casual, family friendly, takeout available.

Agate Restaurant

Casual fine dining next to BIMA, with a Pacific bistro menu built around local seafood and seasonal produce. The closest dinner to the art museum, and the right pick for a slower evening before the drive home.

A day plan that works

One day, north to south, no backtracking:

With kids, swap Bloedel for KiDiMu and Fay Bainbridge Park, and keep the memorial to a shorter visit with context beforehand. With a second day, add Fay Bainbridge beach time and a return to Winslow for the shops you skipped.

Questions people ask

How far is Bainbridge Island from Olalla Bay?
About 45 minutes by car, depending on traffic. Drive north through Port Orchard to Gorst, take SR 3 north toward Poulsbo, then SR 305 south across the Agate Pass Bridge onto the island. The route is about 16 miles.
Do I need the Seattle ferry to visit Bainbridge Island from Olalla Bay?
No. From Olalla Bay you drive onto the island over the Agate Pass Bridge. The Seattle ferry is the way Seattle visitors arrive. Driving from the Kitsap side skips the ferry line entirely.
What is free to do on Bainbridge Island?
BIMA is free. The Bainbridge History Museum is free. The Japanese American Exclusion Memorial is free. Pia the Peacekeeper is free. Fay Bainbridge Park day use is free. Winslow window shopping and the waterfront walk are free.
Is the Exclusion Memorial appropriate for kids?
Yes, with context. The memorial is an outdoor walk with a wall of names and interpretive stops. It tells a hard story plainly and without graphic imagery. The Visitor Center adds indoor exhibits. For younger kids, pair it with Pia the Peacekeeper and KiDiMu in the same day.
Can you do Bainbridge Island in one day from Olalla Bay?
Yes. Winslow, BIMA, the History Museum, the Exclusion Memorial, Pia, and dinner fit in one day. Add Bloedel Reserve if you start early, or save it for a second visit. The island rewards a slow pace, so pick three or four stops rather than all of them.

Come see it yourself

Bainbridge Island is forty-five minutes away. The hot tub is out back. All that is missing is you.

Book direct

Also listed on Airbnb and Vrbo

Keep exploring

01

Things to Do in Bremerton

A free Navy museum, a destroyer you can board, a waterfront boardwalk, and a ferry to Seattle, about 25 minutes from Olalla Bay.

Read the guide
02

Things to Do in Gig Harbor

The postcard town 15 minutes up the road: waterfront walk, kayaking, the free museum, and winter draws.

Read the guide
03

Vashon Island History

From ancient shores to arts community, the story of the island across the water.

Read the guide