Lummi Island: nature's well-kept secret, though bike riders are in the loop

I was told that to find the trail to the beach, I'd first have to find the church, because the trailhead is right behind it. I'm seeing fields of grazing sheep and llamas and have ridden past beachfront bungalows and high-priced manses with giant picture windows and views seemingly all the way to Hawaii. But so far, there's no sign of a church.

I'm pedaling my bike on the less-traveled roads at the north end of eight-mile-long Lummi Island, the San Juan Island most people never think about because it rarely shows up in guidebooks or glossy magazine stories.

The few drivers who pass by me wave, just like they do on Lopez Island, and the similarities between the two islands are striking. Both are great for biking because the hills are gentle; they have spectacular island, sea and mountain views, and on both you can stop and watch an eagle flap lazily home to its roost in the woods.

"It's a lot like Lopez but with even less people and traffic," says Holly Bays, taking a break from the same seven-mile loop that I'm riding. She splits her time between Seattle and a Lummi Island cabin she shares with four friends. "There's not much to do here, and that's what really appeals to me."

Though Lummi Island is ferry-served — the 18-car Whatcom Chief makes the 5-minute crossing from Gooseberry Point 38 times each weekday, 18 times daily on weekends — the island has no public trails, campgrounds or parks (except boat-in ones) that might draw Orcas Island-esque crowds. But with about 20 miles of paved, mostly deserted roads, some great places to stop and, of course, the slow pace that is island time, Lummi Island makes for a great road-biking day trip.

Paradise beyond the church

After climbing a small hill above Legoe Bay — about the six-mile mark of my ride — I spot the Lummi Island Congregational Church. It's gleaming white and huge, and looks big enough to hold all 850 of the island's residents at once. Just beyond the empty gravel parking lot, a small sign points to the short trail to the beach, pretty much the only public beach access on the island.

Minutes later, I'm shading my eyes from the bright sun and trying to count how many skips on my last stone's throw into the bay. There's no one else here. Just me, a forest's worth of driftwood and a million black, gray and salmon-colored cobbles and shells along the beach. The bay water sparkles in the afternoon sun and to my right, Orcas Island rises nearly a half-mile up out of Rosario Strait, looking like an impenetrable wall of timber. Watching a sunset here has got to be one of the Northwest's great pleasures.

Earlier in the afternoon, on the ferry over here, the whole of Lummi Island was spread out before me. It looked like a giant evergreen-covered soup spoon turned upside-down. The riding here is basically flat because all the roads are on the handle side of the island.

I'd begun the loop at the Lummi Island ferry landing, where I turned right onto Nugent Road. The road heads northwest following the shoreline and, through breaks in the trees, affords unfamiliar views of familiar places — the bluffs of Sandy Point and western Whatcom County; Boundary Bay and Point Roberts, that nubbin of U.S. territory that hangs south of the U.S.-Canadian border like a branch from a neighbor's tree; and beautiful Vancouver, B.C., backed by the North Shore Mountains.

After 2.5 miles, the road takes an abrupt left at Point Migley, the island's northernmost tip, and heads almost due south, becoming West Shore Drive. The next half-mile climbs a bit but the views west into the Strait of Georgia and the Gulf Islands are grand and mostly unobstructed.

A B&B worth braking for

After cresting the hill, the road drops quickly and I fly down the other side. I feel like one of the gulls to my right, soaring high over the westside bluffs. That is, until I spot the sign for the Willows Inn Bed-and-Breakfast and I jam on the brakes. The Willows has been an inn since 1910 and until last year was owned and managed by generations of the island's Taft family. Along with a restaurant featuring organic foods grown next door at Nettles Farm (whose owners are the Willows' new owners), it has the Coffee Cave, a low-ceilinged, downstairs cafe where everybody feels like a strapping 6-footer.

Outside in a garden area, I meet Stacy Smith and Bays, who are taking a study and magazine-perusal break. They're the ones who told me where to find the trail to the beach, which is about 2.5 miles farther along the loop.

They fill me in on the rest of the loop, too; how I'll head east at Village Point and ride along Legoe Bay, the site of the island's first non-Native settlement, which dates to 1871. At the start of the 20th century, there was even a cannery there. The church and beach trail are not far beyond.

Bays and Smith tell about life on the island and use words like "peaceful" and "serene" and "tranquil" and phrases like "there's nobody here" and "fresh air" and "it's like stepping into another world." And then they seem to wonder whether they should be telling me all this.

"This is our sweet spot," Smith says. "You can write about it; just don't tell anybody how to get here."

Riiiight.

IF YOU GO

Getting there: Lummi Island is two hours north of Seattle, and about 25 minutes from Bellingham. Take Interstate 5 to Exit 260, north of Bellingham. Drive west on Slater Road for 3.5 miles to Haxton Way. Head south on Haxton for about 6.5 miles to the ferry terminal at Gooseberry Point on the Lummi Nation Reservation.

The Whatcom Chief ferry, operated by Whatcom County, holds 18 cars and 100 passengers. Crossing time is about five minutes. Round-trip fares are $1 for walk-ons and bicycles, $3 for cars, $1 for each person in the car. Information: 360-676-6759.

Ride on to the ferry: For a 30-mile bike ride, park in the industrial park just west of I-5's Exit 260 and follow the above directions to Gooseberry Point.

Lodging: Willows Inn, 888-294-2620 or www.willows-inn.com; West Shore Farm B&B, 360-758-2600; Sunny Hill B&B, 360-758-2927.

Rentals: The Willows Inn rents bikes, but be advised that the inn is 3.5 miles from the ferry terminal.

Bellingham-based free-lance writer Mike McQuaide is author of "Day Hike! North Cascades" (Sasquatch Books).