Let’s face it. If your perfect autumn day trip in Washington State was going to be sabotaged, it would be by the weather. For us true PNW-ers, the solution is clear: we can’t control the drizzle, but we can pick a destination that looks good in rain and shine. With this “can’t beat ’em, join ’em” strategy in mind, a drive to Port Gamble may be your ideal adventure this fall!
Port Gamble is perched on the northwest point of the Kitsap Peninsula. With less than 800 permanent residents and a beautifully preserved historic downtown, this small community feels like something out of a storybook.
Though you can certainly drive there, if you're visiting from the Seattle area, I recommend taking the Edmonds/Kingston ferry. Traveling by ferry is a unique part of Washington culture. It's also an easy way to inject excitement into in-state trips!
The beauty of Port Gamble is that it's bite-sized. Its walkability means you'll easily see the sights in a day, leaving you with ample time to enjoy the travel there and back.
Visit the Port Gamble General Store for lunch and souvenirs. Residents built the current building in 1916, but the general store has been a central part of life at the port since the customers were millworkers, passing ships, and local Indigenous peoples.
As a kid, I used to work up an appetite by exploring the Sea & Shore Museum upstairs. Their crab dioramas would send me fleeing back to my parents for a cup of cocoa.
The nearby Buena Vista Cemetery is well worth the walk. It's Kitsap County's oldest, and it welcomes respectful visitors. The earliest marker is from 1856 and belongs to a man named Gustave Engelbrecht. He passed in a violent conflict between the Haida tribe of British Columbia and the Indigenous and European residents of Port Gamble.
Timber workers founded Port Gamble in 1849, and it remains one of the best-preserved mill towns in Washington. With its historic appeal and neighborly atmosphere, Port Gamble is the closest we Washingtonians will ever get to Gilmore Girls' Stars Hollow.
