Tygart Media

Author: Will Tygart

  • Thornton A. Sullivan Park at Silver Lake: The 35-Acre Everett Park Most Locals Still Underuse

    Thornton A. Sullivan Park at Silver Lake: The 35-Acre Everett Park Most Locals Still Underuse

    What is Thornton A. Sullivan Park?

    Thornton A. Sullivan Park at Silver Lake is a 35.3-acre City of Everett park at 11405 Silver Lake Road. It wraps the south end of Silver Lake and offers a swimming beach (no lifeguards), a 9-hole disc golf course, three picnic shelters, self-serve kayak and paddleboard rentals, a playground, waterfront trails, and Silver Hall for events. The park is open 6 a.m. to dusk year-round. Small electric or gas motors (8 horsepower maximum) are allowed on the lake.

    The Everett park most locals drive past

    Silver Lake has a neighborhood named after it, a shopping district named after it, and a highway exit named after it. What it doesn’t have — in most Everett residents’ mental maps — is the 35-acre park wrapping its south shore that most people haven’t actually walked since they were kids.

    Thornton A. Sullivan Park at Silver Lake is that park. If you live anywhere south of 41st and want a day outside without driving to Mukilteo or over to Jetty Island, this is the answer most Everett locals haven’t fully reckoned with.

    The basics

    • Address: 11405 Silver Lake Road, Everett, WA 98208
    • Size: 35.3 acres
    • Hours: 6 a.m. to dusk, every day
    • Cost: Free for day use
    • Phone: City of Everett Parks, 425-257-8700
    • Parking: Free on-site lot

    No lifeguards are on duty. Life jackets are available to borrow at the beach.

    What’s actually here

    A real swimming beach

    This is the big one. Silver Lake has an honest-to-goodness sand beach at the park — not a ramp, not a pier, an actual walk-into-the-water beach with a sand playground area right next to it. On hot summer weekends this is the default Everett family move for anyone who doesn’t want to fight traffic to a saltwater beach. Because the lake is smaller than a Sound beach, the water warms up faster in the spring, which makes this one of the first genuinely swimmable places in Everett each year.

    The city posts water safety reminders prominently: no lifeguards, wear a Coast Guard-approved life jacket if you’re not confident, and swim with a buddy. Drowning risk climbs sharply in summer across all Western Washington lakes — this park takes the messaging seriously, and so should visitors.

    A 9-hole disc golf course

    Thornton A. Sullivan has one of the better natural-terrain disc golf courses in Snohomish County. It’s 9 holes, forested, free to play, and busy on weekends. Beginners and veterans share the course. If you’ve never played disc golf, this is the most forgiving place in Everett to learn — the fairways are generous enough that first-timers aren’t constantly hunting lost discs.

    Self-serve kayak and paddleboard rentals

    Whenever Watersports operates a self-serve kayak and paddleboard rental kiosk at the park. It’s app-based — you rent from your phone, grab the gear, and return it when you’re done. The kiosk operates from sunrise to sunset, every day, with no reservations required. For an Everett family that wants to paddle without owning the equipment or hauling it anywhere, this is the simplest entry point to lake paddling in the city.

    Silver Lake allows small motorized boats — electric or gas motors up to 8 horsepower. That cap keeps the lake quiet and swim-friendly while still allowing a fishing skiff.

    Three picnic shelters

    Camp Patterson Picnic Shelter, Silver Lake Beach Shelter, and the Silver Lake Dock Shelter each anchor a different section of the park. They’re reservable through the City of Everett. The main shelter seats up to 64 for large family gatherings or birthday parties.

    Silver Hall

    If you need to host an indoor event at the park, Silver Hall is 1,018 square feet with a 40-person capacity. It includes restrooms and a kitchen with a stove, oven, microwave, and refrigerator. Reservations go through the City of Everett Parks department.

    Trails and waterfront access

    The park has a loop trail system around the southern lakeshore with multiple waterfront viewpoints. The loop is short enough to walk with a toddler and long enough to actually count as a walk. There’s a concrete table tennis table in the sand area — a small detail, but the kind that tells you someone who used this park as a kid designed it.

    Fishing

    Silver Lake is stocked and open to fishing with a valid Washington fishing license. The park’s waterfront viewpoints and the dock area are the most common fishing spots.

    When to go

    Spring (April–May): The best time for walking the trails and playing disc golf. Water’s still cold for swimming, but the park is quiet and the weather is starting to turn.

    Summer (June–August): Prime swimming and paddling season. Weekends get crowded — plan to arrive before 11 a.m. if you want a shaded picnic spot or a shelter without a reservation. Weekdays are dramatically quieter.

    Fall (September–October): Disc golf weather is excellent through October. The trees around the disc golf course turn and the park empties out.

    Winter: The park stays open at 6 a.m. to dusk year-round. Trails are walkable in most weather. The disc golf course plays cold but plays fine.

    How the park got here

    Thornton A. Sullivan Park is named for a long-serving parks commissioner whose work shaped the Everett parks system for decades. The park has been Everett’s primary lake-access park since the city acquired and developed the site, and it’s been expanded and renovated in phases over the years. Today’s 35.3 acres include the southern arc of Silver Lake’s shore, the beach, the wooded disc golf corridor, and the meadow zone around the picnic shelters.

    What makes the park distinct in Everett’s park system is that it’s one of the only city parks built around a lake — not a viewpoint of Port Gardner Bay, not a city block retrofit, but a park where the water is the point.

    Who this park is for

    Families who want a swim day without leaving the city. Disc golfers who want 9 holes they can play after work. Paddlers who don’t own a kayak. Anyone hosting a birthday party in Everett who doesn’t want to pay for a venue. Seniors who want a flat, walkable loop with benches. Kids who want a playground with a beach attached.

    If you’ve lived in Everett for a decade and haven’t been to Thornton A. Sullivan in five years, you’ve probably forgotten how good this park is.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Where is Thornton A. Sullivan Park in Everett?

    The park is at 11405 Silver Lake Road, Everett, WA 98208, wrapping the south end of Silver Lake in the Silver Lake neighborhood of south Everett.

    What are the hours of Thornton A. Sullivan Park?

    The park is open from 6 a.m. to dusk every day of the year. There are no lifeguards on duty at any time.

    Is there a swimming beach at Silver Lake?

    Yes. The park includes a sand beach with designated swimming area. There are no lifeguards, so swimmers are asked to wear Coast Guard-approved life jackets (available to borrow) and swim with a buddy.

    Can you rent kayaks at Thornton A. Sullivan Park?

    Yes. Whenever Watersports operates a self-serve kayak and paddleboard rental kiosk on the lakeshore. Rentals are app-based, available sunrise to sunset, with no reservations required.

    Is there a disc golf course at the park?

    Yes. The park has a 9-hole natural-terrain disc golf course. It’s free to play and open during park hours.

    Can you have a motorized boat on Silver Lake?

    Yes, but only small motors — electric or gas motors up to 8 horsepower are allowed. That keeps Silver Lake quiet and swim-friendly while allowing fishing skiffs.

    Can you reserve picnic shelters or Silver Hall?

    Yes. Camp Patterson Picnic Shelter, the Silver Lake Beach shelter, the Silver Lake Dock shelter, and Silver Hall are all reservable through the City of Everett. Silver Hall seats 40 and includes a kitchen; the largest picnic shelter seats up to 64.

    Is fishing allowed at Silver Lake?

    Yes. A valid Washington State fishing license is required. The dock and waterfront viewpoints are the most common fishing spots.

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  • Living in Riverside: Everett’s Oldest Neighborhood Is Also One of Its Most Overlooked

    Living in Riverside: Everett’s Oldest Neighborhood Is Also One of Its Most Overlooked

    What is the Riverside neighborhood in Everett?

    Riverside is Everett’s oldest neighborhood, running from 19th Street south to Pacific Avenue and from Broadway east to the Snohomish River. It was first platted in 1891 and is home to Garfield Park, Riverside Park, Summit Park, JJ Hill Park, and Judd & Black Park — more public green space per square block than almost any other Everett neighborhood. Residents are automatically members of the Riverside Neighborhood Association and pay no dues.

    Everett’s first neighborhood, still writing its story

    Most Everett guides start downtown. Riverside was there first.

    The eastern-most part of the neighborhood was platted by the Mitchell Land Company and filed on September 23, 1891 — the third plat in Everett, just weeks behind the first two, and months before the main plat of the city itself. Everything east of Broadway and west of the Snohomish River that sits between 19th and Pacific traces its street grid back to that filing. By the time Everett incorporated in 1893, Riverside was already a neighborhood with a name, streets, and a working river on its eastern edge.

    That matters, because Riverside is the neighborhood that most directly connects modern Everett to its sawmill-and-railroad origin story. The Snohomish River isn’t a view from Riverside — it’s the eastern property line. Stand at the top of Summit Avenue and you’re looking at the same ridge workers climbed home to after a shift at the waterfront mills a hundred and thirty years ago.

    Where Riverside actually is

    If you’re new to Everett, the boundaries are easy to hold in your head:

    • North: 19th Street
    • South: Pacific Avenue
    • East: the Snohomish River
    • West: Broadway

    Broadway is the western artery — the wall that separates Riverside from the Bayside grid to the west. Everything between Broadway and the river is Riverside. That’s a rectangle roughly a mile wide and a mile and a half tall, cut through by Everett Avenue, Hewitt Avenue, Pacific Avenue, and a whole lot of quiet residential streets that most Everett residents have driven past without ever knowing they were there.

    Six parks in one neighborhood

    Riverside’s quiet superpower is parks. For a neighborhood this small, the park inventory is remarkable — and most of them are the kind of parks only locals know about.

    Garfield Park (23rd & Walnut)

    The anchor park. Baseball fields, a playground, a walking track, pickleball courts, basketball, tennis courts — all in one footprint. Garfield is the park where Riverside kids grow up, Little League seasons happen, and pickleball players have been quietly organizing for years. The city has an active renovation plan in motion, and we’ve covered the Garfield makeover separately.

    Riverside Park (Everett Avenue & East Grand)

    A viewpoint park at the east end of Everett Avenue overlooking the Snohomish River and the Cascade foothills beyond. There’s a little free library here. The view at sunrise is arguably the best unofficial viewpoint in Everett — and one that almost no tourist guide mentions.

    Summit Park (Summit Avenue)

    The highest point in Riverside. On a clear day you can see the Cascade Mountains from Summit, which is why generations of Riverside families have walked up there to watch the Fourth of July fireworks.

    JJ Hill Park (Hewitt & Broadway)

    A pocket park at the western edge — small, but it does the job of breaking up the Hewitt-Broadway intersection with a patch of green.

    Judd & Black Park (Hewitt Avenue & Maple)

    Another small neighborhood park — the kind of place where locals walk their dogs on the way back from the grocery store and nobody else stops.

    The Snohomish Riverfront

    Technically not a city park, but functionally one — the Snohomish Riverfront Trail system runs along the eastern edge of the neighborhood, and the Lowell Riverfront Trail extension sits a short walk south. Snohomish County has been acquiring former Puget Sound Energy corridor parcels since 2020 for the Snohomish River Trail Phase 1, which will eventually knit the whole riverfront together from Everett to Snohomish.

    The neighborhood association that actually runs things

    The Riverside Neighborhood Association is one of Everett’s most active. Residents are automatically members — no sign-up, no dues. The association uses mini-grants from the City of Everett to fund community programs, organize events, and lobby on neighborhood infrastructure questions.

    That “automatically a member” structure matters. It means the neighborhood association isn’t a small club of the same ten people — it’s a framework that lets anyone on any Riverside block show up to a meeting and count. If you just moved in, you already belong.

    What it’s like to live here

    Riverside’s housing stock is older than almost anywhere else in Everett, which means you get the good and the quirky. Craftsman houses with original woodwork. Mid-century ramblers. The occasional Victorian holdout. Streets that don’t quite line up with the rest of the city because they were laid out before the modern grid was imposed. Mature trees that give the neighborhood a canopy most Everett neighborhoods haven’t had time to grow.

    It’s also one of the most walkable non-downtown neighborhoods in the city. Hewitt Avenue runs through it. Everett Avenue runs through it. You can walk from central Riverside to downtown Everett in fifteen minutes and to the riverfront in ten.

    The demographic profile tilts toward a mix of long-time residents and younger households who’ve figured out that Riverside offers Everett’s most house for the money once you get east of Rucker. Rentals make up about half the housing stock, but owner-occupancy is higher here than in many central Everett neighborhoods.

    What long-timers say

    The thing longtime Riverside residents repeat, almost verbatim, is that the neighborhood is underrated — and they’d prefer to keep it that way. It doesn’t have the waterfront cachet of Bayside. It doesn’t have the lake of Silver Lake. What it has is history, parks, the river, and a neighborhood association that actually meets and actually gets things done.

    If you’re reading a Riverside neighborhood guide, you’re probably already the kind of person who would fit in here.

    Getting around

    Broadway and Rucker handle the north-south traffic. Hewitt, Everett, and Pacific handle the east-west. I-5 is a five-minute drive west. The Snohomish Riverfront Trail is a walk east. The Everett Transit Station is a mile south, which puts commuters on a Sound Transit bus to Seattle without needing to drive to a park-and-ride.

    For the riverfront trail connection specifically, the Mill Town Trail loop ties the Port of Everett waterfront to Riverside Park via East Grand Avenue — a continuous six-plus-mile walking loop that uses Riverside as its eastern anchor.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Where is the Riverside neighborhood in Everett?

    Riverside sits between 19th Street and Pacific Avenue on the north-south axis, and between Broadway and the Snohomish River on the east-west axis. It’s directly east of Bayside and directly north of the Port Gardner / Pacific Avenue corridor.

    Is Riverside really Everett’s oldest neighborhood?

    Yes. The first plat in what is now Riverside was filed in September 1891 — earlier than the main plat of Everett itself. The neighborhood’s eastern blocks trace directly back to that filing.

    How many parks are in Riverside?

    Five official city parks sit inside the neighborhood: Garfield Park, Riverside Park, Summit Park, JJ Hill Park, and Judd & Black Park. The Snohomish Riverfront Trail corridor runs along the eastern edge, adding a sixth functional green space.

    Does Riverside have a neighborhood association?

    Yes. The Riverside Neighborhood Association covers the entire boundary area. Residents are automatically members, there are no dues, and the association uses City of Everett mini-grants to fund neighborhood programs.

    Is Riverside a good place to live in Everett?

    For buyers and renters who value walkability, older housing stock, mature trees, and proximity to both downtown Everett and the Snohomish River, Riverside is among the strongest options in the city. It sits outside the price pressure of the waterfront and the density of downtown while keeping a short walk to both.

    What’s the history of Garfield Park?

    Garfield Park is one of Everett’s oldest named parks, anchored at 23rd and Walnut. It has grown into a multi-use facility with baseball fields, a playground, a walking track, pickleball, basketball, and tennis — and the city is currently advancing a formal renovation plan for the park.

    How do I join the Riverside Neighborhood Association?

    You already did. If you live inside the Riverside boundaries — 19th Street to Pacific Avenue, Broadway to the river — you are automatically a member and can attend any association meeting or event without signing up or paying dues.

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  • Richard Marx’s After Hours Tour Lands at the Historic Everett Theatre May 8 — And This Friday Night Is Already Running Out of Seats

    Richard Marx’s After Hours Tour Lands at the Historic Everett Theatre May 8 — And This Friday Night Is Already Running Out of Seats

    Richard Marx — yes, that Richard Marx, the guy who held down the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in the late ’80s like it was his personal lease — is bringing his After Hours Tour into the Historic Everett Theatre on Friday, May 8, 2026 at 7:30 PM. One night. One of the most historically loaded rooms on Colby Avenue. And according to Bandsintown’s listing for the show, ticket availability is already down to a sliver.

    If you came up on “Right Here Waiting” on the car radio, if “Hold On to the Nights” was your slow-dance song, if “Endless Summer Nights” is permanently wired into your summer memory — this is the kind of show that only makes sense to skip if you truly hate joy. It is also, genuinely, one of the more unexpected bookings Everett has landed this spring.

    Here is everything worth knowing before you click buy.

    The Show at a Glance

    • **Who:** Richard Marx — five-time No. 1 Billboard hitmaker, After Hours Tour
    • **What:** Richard Marx live, supporting his January 2026 jazz-infused album After Hours
    • **When:** Friday, May 8, 2026 — 7:30 PM
    • **Where:** Historic Everett Theatre, 2911 Colby Avenue, Everett, WA 98201
    • **Tickets:** Official box office and links through everetttheater.org and theeveretttheatre.org; also listed on Bandsintown
    • **Availability:** Bandsintown’s listing for the Everett date showed very limited inventory remaining at time of publish

    If you have ever talked yourself out of a show because “we’ll grab tickets closer to the date” — do not do that here.

    Why This Booking Is a Big Deal for Everett

    Let’s zoom out for a second. The Historic Everett Theatre is not a 5,000-seat amphitheater. It is an intimate, roughly 800-seat room with 1901 opera-house bones — a building that’s been hosting touring artists since vaudeville was the dominant American art form. An artist with Richard Marx’s catalog — the kind of catalog that would sell out rooms five times the Everett Theatre’s size in bigger markets — playing a venue this small and this historic is the entire reason we keep telling people to watch this theater’s calendar.

    Between this booking, Canned Heat with Big Brother and the Holding Company on April 29, Trio Los Panchos on May 7, and Corduroy’s Pearl Jam tribute on May 9, the Historic Everett Theatre is quietly putting up one of the most stacked weekends in its modern concert history. Richard Marx on a Friday and a tribute to Pearl Jam the very next night in the same 1901 room — that’s not an accident of scheduling. That’s a room that’s been carefully programmed by people who know what they’re doing.

    About the After Hours Tour

    After Hours is Richard Marx’s jazz-infused studio album, released January 16, 2026. According to Marx’s interview with Billboard and his official tour site, the record was cut entirely live with a 24-piece ensemble — full takes, no studio patchwork, the way jazz records used to be made. The album’s lead-up singles included:

    • **”Big Band Boogie”** featuring saxophonist Kenny G
    • **”All I Ever Needed”** — a jazz-infused ballad featuring trumpeter Chris Botti
    • **”Magic Hour”** — co-written with Marx’s wife, Daisy Fuentes

    The tour officially kicked off April 16, 2026 and moves through Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada through the year, including headline stops at Red Rocks and the London Palladium. Marx is also joining Rod Stewart for select dates on Stewart’s tour, and the two released a duet version of “Young at Heart” in 2026.

    The Everett Theatre show sits in a tight West Coast run. According to the official tour site, it is sandwiched between the Elsinore Theatre in Salem, Oregon (May 9) and the Holly Theatre in Medford, Oregon (May 10) — meaning Everett is the northernmost stop on that West Coast swing. This is the room and the date for the Puget Sound region. There is no closer option.

    What to Expect from the Setlist

    Tours built around a new jazz record still tend to honor the hits. On Richard Marx’s recent runs, the setlist has braided the new After Hours material with the songs everyone in the theater actually came to hear: “Right Here Waiting,” “Hold On to the Nights,” “Endless Summer Nights,” “Hazard,” “Satisfied,” “Should’ve Known Better,” “Now and Forever.”

    Here’s the career footnote worth appreciating while you’re there: according to his Wikipedia entry and Billboard’s own historical chart data, Richard Marx is the only male artist in history whose first seven singles all reached the top five of the Billboard Hot 100. That is an absurd statistic. That is a “you were extremely good at this” statistic. Sitting in a theater built in 1901 watching the guy who did that perform them live with a band — that’s the kind of thing you tell people about at work on Monday.

    Historic Everett Theatre: The Quick History

    If this is your first time inside the Historic Everett Theatre, here’s the context that makes the night hit harder:

    • **1901** — Opens as the Everett Opera House, hosting opera, vaudeville, and legitimate theater. Early-20th-century performers to grace the stage included Lillian Russell, Al Jolson, Eddie Foy and the Seven Little Foys, and George M. Cohan.
    • **1923** — A fire tears through the building, destroying the interior and collapsing part of the front wall.
    • **1924** — Rebuilt and reopened as the 1,200-seat New Everett Theater.
    • **2000–2004** — Restored to its current form. The room now operates as a classic movie screen, concert venue, and stage-production house, seating roughly 800.

    In other words: the same room that hosted Al Jolson in the 1910s is hosting Richard Marx on May 8. That lineage is not a marketing line. It is the physical building. That matters.

    Getting There + Logistics

    • **Address:** 2911 Colby Avenue, Everett, WA 98201
    • **Start time:** Doors typically open an hour before showtime; show at 7:30 PM
    • **Parking:** Colby Avenue street parking plus nearby downtown Everett garages — the Everpark Garage is one of the closest options for downtown events
    • **Box office / ticket links:** everetttheater.org and theeveretttheatre.org both route to the official ticketing. Show is also listed on Bandsintown for tracking
    • **Food and drink before the show:** Downtown Everett’s Hewitt Avenue is a four-minute walk. Tony V’s Garage, Lucky Dime, the restaurants along the Colby/Hewitt corridor — any of them will put you inside the theater well before the 7:30 curtain

    The Honest Verdict

    If you are the kind of person who already has tickets, you didn’t need this article. You’ve known for weeks.

    If you are the kind of person who wasn’t paying attention — this is your nudge. Five No. 1 Billboard hits. A brand-new jazz record cut live with a 24-piece ensemble. A 125-year-old theater that Al Jolson once played. Tickets already showing as limited availability. A Friday night in Everett.

    It is not complicated. Go.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Q: What time does Richard Marx go on at the Historic Everett Theatre?

    A: The show is scheduled for Friday, May 8, 2026 at 7:30 PM. Doors typically open around an hour before showtime.

    Q: Where is the Historic Everett Theatre located?

    A: The Historic Everett Theatre is at 2911 Colby Avenue, Everett, WA 98201, in downtown Everett.

    Q: Are tickets still available for Richard Marx in Everett?

    A: At time of publication, Bandsintown’s listing for the Everett date showed very limited inventory remaining. Check everetttheater.org, theeveretttheatre.org, or Bandsintown for the current availability — this show may already be sold out by the time you read this.

    Q: What tour is this show part of?

    A: This is Richard Marx’s After Hours Tour, supporting his January 2026 jazz-infused album of the same name. The Everett date sits in a West Coast run between Salem, Oregon (May 9) and Medford, Oregon (May 10).

    Q: Will Richard Marx play his old hits or just new jazz material?

    A: Based on setlists from the tour, Marx is braiding material from the new After Hours album with his catalog of Billboard hits including “Right Here Waiting,” “Hold On to the Nights,” “Endless Summer Nights,” and “Hazard.”

    Q: How big is the Historic Everett Theatre?

    A: The current seating capacity is roughly 800 seats. That makes this show an unusually intimate setting for an artist of Richard Marx’s commercial stature.

    Q: Is the venue all-ages?

    A: The Historic Everett Theatre hosts all-ages concerts as a general rule. Verify at the box office if you’re bringing younger family members.

    Q: What’s the best place to eat before the show?

    A: Downtown Everett’s Hewitt Avenue corridor is a short walk. Tony V’s Garage, Lucky Dime, and the Colby/Hewitt dining cluster all work if you want to grab dinner and walk to the theater.

  • Jetty Island Ferry Returns July 8: Your Complete 2026 Guide to Everett’s Best Free Beach

    Jetty Island Ferry Returns July 8: Your Complete 2026 Guide to Everett’s Best Free Beach

    Q: When does the Jetty Island ferry open in 2026?
    A: The Jetty Island passenger ferry runs July 8 through September 6, 2026, Wednesday through Sunday. Reservations are required and cost $4 per person Wed-Thu and $7 Fri-Sun. Children 2 and under ride free. The ferry departs from Jetty Landing at 10th Street and W. Marine View Drive in Everett.

    Jetty Island Ferry Returns July 8: Your Complete 2026 Guide to Everett’s Best Free Beach

    Mark July 8 on the calendar. That’s the day the Jetty Island ferry season officially starts in 2026, and that’s the day Everett’s two-mile-long sandy island park becomes accessible again to anyone who can get to the marina. The ferry runs through September 6 — exactly two months of the only beach in Western Washington that actually feels like a beach.

    If you’ve never made the trip, here’s the short version: Jetty Island is a man-made, two-mile-long sandbar just off the Port of Everett, separated from the mainland by a narrow channel. There’s warm water on the inner shoreline (the channel side warms up in the summer sun), wind for kiteboarders on the outer shoreline, miles of walking, and almost no infrastructure. Bring what you need, take what you brought. That’s the deal.

    The 2026 Ferry Schedule

    The passenger ferry runs Wednesday through Sunday from July 8 through September 6, 2026. Operating hours by day:

    • Wednesday and Thursday: 10 AM to 5:45 PM
    • Friday and Saturday: 10 AM to 6:45 PM
    • Sunday: 10 AM to 5:45 PM
    • Monday and Tuesday: No ferry service

    The ferry departs from Jetty Landing, which is right next to the boat launch at the corner of 10th Street and W. Marine View Drive in Everett. There’s parking near the launch, but on a hot weekend in August it fills up fast. Get there early or be prepared to walk a few blocks.

    Reservations Are Required (Yes, Even on Weekdays)

    This is the part that trips up first-timers. You cannot just show up. All ferry rides require advance reservations through the Port of Everett’s reservation system. Walk-up tickets are not sold at the dock.

    Pricing for 2026:

    • Wednesday-Thursday: $4 per person
    • Friday-Sunday: $7 per person
    • Children 2 and under: Free

    Applicable taxes and a small booking fee apply at checkout. Reservations open up at portofeverett.com — and for prime weekend slots in July and August, they go fast. If you know you want to be there a particular weekend, book it the moment the schedule goes live.

    What You Need to Know Before You Go

    Jetty Island is intentionally left rustic. There are no concessions. There is no drinking water. There are vault toilets and that’s it. Pack:

    • Water — more than you think you need. Two miles of beach in August sun without shade is a long day.
    • Sunscreen and a hat — there is genuinely zero shade on most of the island.
    • Snacks/lunch — and a trash bag. Pack out what you pack in.
    • Wind layer — even on hot days the outer beach gets a steady afternoon wind off the Sound.
    • Beach toys, a kite, or a paddleboard — the channel side is calm and warm enough for all-day water play.

    Pets are allowed, but they need to stay on leash. There’s no lifeguard service. Watch the tide schedule — at extreme low tides the channel between the mainland and the island gets shallow enough to expose long stretches of mudflat, which is fascinating to look at and miserable to walk through.

    Why the Ferry Closes Early on Hot Days

    This is the one operational quirk to plan around. When the island reaches maximum capacity — which happens on hot weekends in late July and August — the ferry can stop running new round-trips early. The return ferries still operate to bring everyone back, but if you show up at 2 PM on a 90-degree Saturday and the ferry is paused, your reservation may not get you across. Earlier is better.

    Inclement weather can also cancel ferry service. The Port posts updates on the day-of through their site and social channels.

    The Things People Don’t Realize About Jetty Island

    The water is actually warm. The channel side, sheltered from the Sound, gets shallow and sun-heated through the day. Kids can wade for hours. It’s the warmest swimming water you’ll find anywhere in Snohomish County.

    It’s a kiteboarding hotspot. The outer shoreline catches a consistent westerly afternoon wind in summer, and the local kiteboarding community treats Jetty as one of the best spots in the region. If you’ve ever wanted to watch the sport up close, head to the south end of the island in the late afternoon.

    The bird life is wild. Jetty is on the Pacific Flyway and is a Snohomish County designated wildlife area. Bald eagles, herons, oystercatchers — bring binoculars if you’re into that.

    You can paddle there. If the ferry is full or you’ve got your own kayak or paddleboard, the channel from the marina is short, calm, and well within reach for a casual paddler. Bring a leash for your board and a PFD.

    Getting to Jetty Landing

    Jetty Landing is at 1700 W. Marine View Drive, right next to the Port of Everett’s 10th Street boat launch. From I-5, take exit 193 (Pacific Avenue) and head west until Marine View Drive, then turn north. The boat launch parking lot is signed.

    Everett Transit’s Route 7 stops within about a half-mile walk if you’d rather not deal with parking. On weekends the bike racks at Jetty Landing fill up too, which tells you something about who knows what they’re doing.

    What to Do After the Beach

    Coming back from a Jetty day around 5 or 6 PM puts you right at the Port of Everett’s Waterfront Place — which has the best dinner options in the area and is about a five-minute walk from where you’ll dock. Tapped Public House, Rustic Cork, and the new Sound to Summit taproom on the south side of the marina are all right there. The Net Shed Fish Market & Kitchen is another great option for a casual dinner with a view.

    Make a day of it: ferry over for a morning swim, beach lunch, kite-watching afternoon, then dinner on the waterfront when you get back. That’s an Everett summer Saturday done right.

    The Big Picture: Jetty Days 2026

    The Port of Everett’s Jetty Island Days programming runs alongside the ferry season July 8 – September 6, with naturalists, environmental education programs, and family activities scheduled throughout. The full programming calendar typically goes live in mid-June. Watch portofeverett.com for the schedule.

    This is a free island park (the only cost is the ferry ride). It is a genuinely unusual asset for a city the size of Everett. And once you’ve been once, you’ll find a reason to go back every summer.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    When does the Jetty Island ferry open in 2026?
    July 8, 2026.

    When does the ferry season end?
    September 6, 2026.

    How much is the ferry?
    $4 per person Wednesday-Thursday, $7 per person Friday-Sunday. Children 2 and under ride free.

    Where do I make ferry reservations?
    Through portofeverett.com. Reservations are required — there are no walk-up tickets.

    Where does the ferry leave from?
    Jetty Landing at 10th Street and W. Marine View Drive in Everett, next to the Port of Everett boat launch.

    What days does the ferry run?
    Wednesday through Sunday. No ferry service Monday or Tuesday.

    Can I bring my dog to Jetty Island?
    Yes, dogs are allowed but must be on leash.

    Is there food on Jetty Island?
    No — bring your own food, water, and pack out all trash.

    Can I kayak or paddleboard to Jetty Island?
    Yes. The channel from the marina is short and calm in good weather. Wear a PFD and use a board leash.

    Are there bathrooms on the island?
    Yes, vault toilets only. No running water.

    Can the ferry be canceled?
    Yes, the ferry may close due to weather or when the island reaches maximum capacity on busy days. Check portofeverett.com for day-of updates.

  • Bryce Miller Is Pitching at Funko Field Friday Night — And the AquaSox Are Quietly Putting Together a Pretty Good Homestand

    Bryce Miller Is Pitching at Funko Field Friday Night — And the AquaSox Are Quietly Putting Together a Pretty Good Homestand

    Q: Is Bryce Miller pitching for the AquaSox?
    A: Yes — Seattle Mariners right-hander Bryce Miller is scheduled to make a rehab start for the Everett AquaSox on Friday, April 24, 2026 at 7:05 PM PT at Funko Field. He’s working back from a spring training oblique injury and his fastball has already touched 98 mph during his Tacoma Rainiers rehab outing on April 18.

    Bryce Miller Is Pitching at Funko Field Friday Night — And the AquaSox Are Quietly Putting Together a Pretty Good Homestand

    Two pieces of good news from down at Everett Memorial Stadium this week, and they line up perfectly. The AquaSox just took the series opener from the Spokane Indians 5-2 on Tuesday night behind a vintage Taylor Dollard pitching line. And on Friday night, the headliner: Seattle Mariners right-hander Bryce Miller is starting his rehab assignment for Everett, with first pitch at 7:05 PM at Funko Field.

    If you’ve been on the fence about which game in this six-game homestand to grab tickets for, the schedule just answered the question for you.

    Bryce Miller’s Rehab Start: What to Know

    Mariners EVP Justin Hollander confirmed Miller’s Friday rehab assignment with the AquaSox earlier this week. The 27-year-old right-hander is working his way back from an oblique injury sustained in spring training. He made his first rehab outing on Saturday, April 18 with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers — 1.2 innings, two strikeouts, one walk, three runs on four hits, but more importantly, his fastball touched over 98 mph. The arm is fine. The body just needs reps.

    Friday night is his second rehab outing, this time at the High-A level. The reason for moving him down to Everett rather than keeping him in Tacoma: the AquaSox affiliate gives him a chance to get reacclimated to PNW pitching conditions before bumping him back up. His rehab assignment will continue to fluctuate between the Rainiers and AquaSox until he’s ready for a Mariners rotation slot.

    For Everett fans, this is the rare night where you can watch a current major-league starter on the mound at Funko Field. Miller has been with Seattle since 2023, holds a career 24-21 record with a 4.01 ERA, and his best season came in 2024 when he went 12-8 with a 2.94 ERA across 31 starts. He also pitched for Everett in 2022 — 3-3 record, 3.24 ERA across 15 starts — so this is a homecoming of sorts.

    Tickets for Friday night are available through AquaSox.com, the MiLB app, or by calling the AquaSox Front Office at 425-258-3673. Expect a crowd.

    The Series Opener: Taylor Dollard Was Filthy

    Tuesday night the AquaSox got the kind of starting pitching performance they’ve been waiting on all season. Right-hander Taylor Dollard — who’d been working through some early-season struggles — fired five shutout innings, allowed just two hits, struck out seven, and walked one. It was his best start of 2026 and the kind of outing that resets a season.

    “He definitely set the tone with really good momentum throughout that game,” manager Ryan Scott said after the win.

    Dollard himself was characteristically measured: “The process is right, and we’re kind of getting there. Baby steps.”

    The bullpen kept the shutout intact. Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman threw one hitless inning with two strikeouts. Christian Little added two scoreless frames and three more strikeouts. Closer Brock Moore allowed a two-run homer to Spokane’s Jacob Humphrey in the ninth but locked down the save.

    The Offense Is Finally Showing Up Late

    The AquaSox played five scoreless innings on Tuesday before catcher Josh Caron pushed across the first run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth. Then they exploded for four in the eighth — sparked by walks, RBI hits from Luke Stevenson and Axel Sanchez, a Curtis Washington Jr. sacrifice bunt, and a Luis Suisbel sac fly.

    And here’s the trend worth tracking: the AquaSox have now scored 16 runs in the eighth inning over their last six games. Whatever they’re doing in the dugout between innings six and eight is working. They’re 8-8 on the season and heating up at the right time.

    The Rest of the Homestand

    The Spokane series runs through Sunday. Here’s what’s left:

    • Wednesday, April 22: Game 2 vs Spokane, 7:05 PM PT — Student Discount Night, GESA Credit Union Military Pride Offer, Tulalip Bingo & Slots Baseball Bingo
    • Thursday, April 23: Game 3 vs Spokane, 7:05 PM PT
    • Friday, April 24: Game 4 vs Spokane, 7:05 PM PT — Bryce Miller rehab start, Fireworks Night
    • Saturday, April 25: Game 5 vs Spokane, 7:05 PM PT
    • Sunday, April 26: Game 6 vs Spokane, 1:05 PM PT

    Friday is the headliner, but Saturday’s a 7:05 PM PT start with the weekend energy at Funko Field, and Sunday’s afternoon game closes the series — a good fit for families who don’t want to be out late on a school night.

    Spokane Has Been Tougher Than Their Record Looks

    The Indians come into this series at 6-10 but they’ve been competitive game-by-game. Their April 5 walk-off 10-9 win over Everett earlier this season was one of the wilder games of the High-A West season so far. Tuesday’s Jacob Humphrey ninth-inning homer kept the comeback flame alive even in defeat. The High-A West has been chaotic top to bottom this April, and any series with Spokane has the potential to swing on a single inning.

    Prospect Watch on the Roster

    The four Mariners prospects to keep your eye on this homestand:

    • Luke Stevenson — Catcher, opening to do real damage. Had the RBI double in the eighth inning Tuesday.
    • Felnin Celesten — The shortstop the Mariners signed for $4.7 million in 2023. Premium tools, still finding his rhythm at High-A.
    • Lazaro Montes — Big-bodied corner outfielder with massive raw power. The kind of prospect Funko Field crowds notice immediately.
    • Colton Shaw — Right-hander who already had a standout 6IP/7K/0BB performance in the home opening series two weeks ago.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    What time is Bryce Miller pitching for the AquaSox?
    First pitch is 7:05 PM PT on Friday, April 24 at Funko Field (Everett Memorial Stadium).

    How long will Miller pitch?
    Rehab outings typically build pitch count gradually — expect Miller in the 50-65 pitch range Friday based on his Tacoma outing length and his place in the rehab schedule.

    Who won the AquaSox-Spokane series opener?
    Everett won 5-2 on Tuesday, April 21. Taylor Dollard threw five shutout innings with seven strikeouts.

    What was Taylor Dollard’s pitching line?
    5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K. His best start of 2026.

    Where are tickets for the AquaSox?
    AquaSox.com, the MiLB app, or call the AquaSox Front Office at 425-258-3673.

    What’s the AquaSox record this season?
    8-8 after Tuesday’s win.

    Are there fireworks Friday night?
    Yes — Friday, April 24 is fireworks night at Funko Field.

    Who else is on the AquaSox roster worth watching?
    Luke Stevenson (C), Felnin Celesten (SS), Lazaro Montes (OF), and Colton Shaw (RHP) are the headline Mariners prospects on the current roster.

    What is Bryce Miller coming back from?
    An oblique injury sustained during 2026 spring training.

    How fast is Miller throwing?
    His fastball touched 98+ mph in his April 18 Tacoma rehab outing.

  • Silvertips Open the Western Conference Final at Home Thursday Night — Everything You Need Before Puck Drop

    Silvertips Open the Western Conference Final at Home Thursday Night — Everything You Need Before Puck Drop

    Q: When is Silvertips WCF Game 1 vs the Penticton Vees?
    A: Game 1 of the WHL Western Conference Final is Thursday, April 23, 2026 at 7:05 PM PT at Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett. Game 2 follows Saturday, April 25 at 6:30 PM PT, also in Everett. Everett enters the series 7-0 in the playoffs after sweeping past Tri-City and dispatching Kelowna 4-1 in Round 2.

    Silvertips Open the Western Conference Final at Home Thursday Night — Here’s Everything You Need Before Puck Drop

    This is the part of the playoff run where Everett gets to find out exactly how good it is. The Silvertips are perfect through two rounds. The Penticton Vees just punched the last ticket to the Western Conference Final after eliminating Prince George in six. The two best teams in the WHL’s Western Conference start their series Thursday night in Everett — and if you’ve been waiting for a reason to get to Angel of the Winds Arena this spring, this is it.

    Game 1 is Thursday, April 23 at 7:05 PM PT. Game 2 is Saturday, April 25 at 6:30 PM PT. Both at home. The series then shifts to Penticton for Games 3 and 4 on Monday and Tuesday. If a Game 5 is needed, it comes back to Everett.

    How Everett Got Here

    The Silvertips finished the regular season with 117 points on a 57-8-2-1 record — the franchise’s best regular-season showing in 12 years. Then they swept Tri-City. Then they took out Kelowna in five games, with Landon DuPont’s overtime winner 29 seconds into OT closing out Game 5. They’re 7-0 in the postseason.

    Through those seven games, they’ve outscored opponents 40-9. That isn’t a typo. The defense has been a brick wall and the offense has been opportunistic when it needs to be — and a sledgehammer when it doesn’t.

    The Goalie Matchup Is the Story

    Anders Miller has been ridiculous. His .948 save percentage in this postseason is the best in WHL history for any goaltender with nine or more playoff games. His goals-against average sits at 1.55 — the league lead. He held Kelowna to one goal in Game 5 with 30 saves on 31 shots. He’s the most important reason Everett is here.

    Penticton’s AJ Reyelts is no slouch either. He’s posted a 2.44 GAA and a .914 save percentage in the playoffs. And the part that should make Silvertips fans pay attention: Reyelts went 1-1-1-0 with a .929 save percentage against Everett in the regular season. He has seen these guys, and he has shut them down before.

    The Players to Watch

    For Everett, the names you already know are doing what they do. Landon DuPont leads all WHL defensemen in playoff scoring with 13 points (3G, 10A) — and his shot from the point is the kind of weapon that decides series. Matias Vanhanen has 14 points (7G, 7A) and has been Everett’s most consistent forward in the postseason. Carter Bear has 10 playoff goals and a habit of scoring shorthanded when the team needs it most. Julius Miettinen has eight playoff goals — second most in the entire postseason — and he’s also a Seattle Kraken prospect, which means there are NHL eyes on every shift.

    For Penticton, the load is being carried by Jacob Kvasnicka (13 points, 7G, 6A), Ryden Evers (11 points), and Louie Wehmann (11 points). Kvasnicka, notably, is the only Vees skater drafted by an NHL club. Evers is also a Seattle Kraken prospect, so Saturday and Thursday nights are essentially a Kraken pipeline showcase between the two benches.

    The Regular-Season History Gives the Vees a Little Hope

    This isn’t a series Penticton should walk into terrified. The two teams played four times in the regular season. Everett won the season series 3-1, but the one Vees win was a 7-0 road shutout that handed the Silvertips their first regulation loss after Everett opened the year 10-0-1. The teams scored 15 goals each across the four meetings.

    So Penticton has both proof of concept and proof of vulnerability — they know what it looks like when the Silvertips lose, because they’re the ones who made it happen.

    What’s at Stake

    The winner of this series goes to the WHL Championship — the Ed Chynoweth Cup Final — and from there to the Memorial Cup. Everett hasn’t been to a Conference Final since the 2017-18 season. They haven’t won a league championship since 2017. The pieces are all in place this year, and the bracket has set up about as cleanly as a top seed could ask for.

    For the Vees, this is their first WHL Conference Final since making the jump from junior A to the WHL. A team that didn’t even exist at this level a few years ago is now two series away from a Memorial Cup berth.

    Getting to the Game

    Doors at Angel of the Winds Arena open about an hour before puck drop. The arena is at 2000 Hewitt Avenue in downtown Everett, with paid garage parking next door and street parking around the perimeter. Tickets for Game 1 and Game 2 are still available through the Silvertips’ official site and Ticketmaster as of Wednesday night, though lower-bowl options are getting thin for Game 2.

    If you’ve been waiting for the right moment to come back to a Silvertips game, this is it. The team hasn’t been this good in over a decade. The arena is going to be loud. And the Western Conference Final only happens here every few seasons — when it does, you don’t miss it.

    The Full Series Schedule

    • Game 1: Thursday, April 23 — Penticton at Everett, 7:05 PM PT, Angel of the Winds Arena
    • Game 2: Saturday, April 25 — Penticton at Everett, 6:30 PM PT, Angel of the Winds Arena
    • Game 3: Monday, April 27 — Everett at Penticton
    • Game 4: Tuesday, April 28 — Everett at Penticton
    • Game 5 (if necessary): Friday, May 1 — Penticton at Everett
    • Game 6 (if necessary): Sunday, May 3 — Everett at Penticton
    • Game 7 (if necessary): Tuesday, May 5 — Penticton at Everett

    Frequently Asked Questions

    What time is Game 1?
    Game 1 is Thursday, April 23 at 7:05 PM PT at Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett.

    Where can I buy tickets?
    Tickets are available through everettsilvertips.com and Ticketmaster. Lower-bowl seats for Game 2 are getting limited — check early.

    Who are the Penticton Vees?
    The Vees are a relatively new WHL franchise that made the jump from junior A. They beat Prince George in six games to advance to the Western Conference Final.

    What is Anders Miller’s playoff save percentage?
    .948 — the highest save percentage in WHL playoff history for a goaltender with nine or more games played.

    Who leads the Silvertips in playoff scoring?
    Matias Vanhanen leads with 14 points (7G, 7A). Landon DuPont leads all WHL defensemen in playoff scoring with 13 points.

    Can the Silvertips win the Memorial Cup this year?
    They have to win this series first, then the WHL Championship, but they enter the Conference Final as the strongest team statistically in the entire CHL postseason.

    When was the last time Everett made the Western Conference Final?
    The 2017-18 season. The last WHL Championship was 2017.

    Is there a Game 5 in Everett?
    Yes, if the series is tied or close after Game 4. Game 5 would be Friday, May 1 at Angel of the Winds Arena.

  • What the Navy’s New FF(X) Frigate Means for Naval Station Everett

    What the Navy’s New FF(X) Frigate Means for Naval Station Everett

    What is the FF(X) frigate and does Everett still have a shot at it? The FF(X) is the Navy’s replacement frigate class, unveiled by Secretary of the Navy John Phelan on December 19, 2025, after the Constellation-class program was cancelled. It will be based on HII’s Legend-class National Security Cutter design and built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Mississippi, with additional yards to be added through competition. The Navy has not announced homeports for the new class. Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Everett) is lobbying Navy leadership to route the new frigates to Naval Station Everett, citing the same Pacific access that won Everett the original Constellation assignment in 2021.

    What the Navy’s New FF(X) Frigate Means for Naval Station Everett

    For four years, Naval Station Everett’s growth story was tied to one class of ship: the Constellation-class guided-missile frigate. Twelve of them were supposed to arrive between 2026 and 2028, bringing an estimated 2,900 sailors and civilian personnel with them and cementing Everett’s status as the Pacific Northwest’s frigate homeport.

    That story ended on November 25, 2025, when Secretary of the Navy John Phelan announced the Constellation program’s cancellation. It was replaced on December 19 by a new story — one whose final chapter hasn’t been written yet, and whose setting is still up for grabs.

    The New Frigate: FF(X), Based on a Coast Guard Cutter

    In a video posted on social media on December 19, Phelan announced his direction for the program: “I have directed the acquisition of a new frigate class based on HII’s Legend-class national security cutter design, a proven American built ship that has been protecting us interests at home and abroad.”

    The design choice matters. The Legend-class is the National Security Cutter, the Coast Guard’s largest surface asset — a 418-foot hull that HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding has been delivering on schedule for more than a decade. By starting from a mature, in-production American design rather than adapting a European parent hull, the Navy is betting it can avoid the design-instability problems that sank the Constellation.

    The Constellation’s design problems were severe. It was originally intended to be about 85% common with the Italian FREMM frigate it was based on. By the time the Navy walked away from it, the final design had only about 15% commonality with the parent FREMM, had grown roughly 500 tons heavier than planned, and had pushed delivery of the lead ship from a 2026 target to April 2029 — a three-year slip that added more than $1 billion in costs.

    The FF(X) aims for a ship in the water by 2028. Ingalls in Pascagoula, Mississippi will be the lead yard. The Navy has said it will run a competition to select additional yards, which keeps the door open for industrial base expansion elsewhere.

    The Open Question for Everett

    Neither the cancellation announcement nor the replacement announcement addressed homeports. Navy spokesman Capt. Ron Flanders told The Daily Herald that decisions on where the first two Constellation-class ships — FFG-62 Constellation and FFG-63 Congress, both still under construction at Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Wisconsin — will be based “won’t be made until much closer to a ship’s commissioning date.”

    The same silence applies to the new FF(X). No homeport has been announced. No assignment schedule has been published. For a station that spent four years preparing for a frigate-driven future, that silence is the central fact to navigate.

    Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Everett), a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, has moved quickly to make Everett’s case. Larsen has publicly described the station as “uniquely situated” for new frigates because of its direct access to the Pacific and its existing pier infrastructure, arguing the same rationale that won Everett the original Constellation homeport assignment in 2021 applies just as well to its replacement.

    Why Everett Was Picked the First Time

    The 2021 homeport decision was not arbitrary. The Navy’s 2024 Environmental Assessment on homeporting Constellation-class frigates at Naval Station Everett found no significant environmental impact and documented the station’s suitability in detail: deep-water piers already built to handle larger combatants, shore power capacity for modern ships, proximity to the open ocean without transit through restricted inland waters, and established training ranges in the Puget Sound operating area.

    That infrastructure has not moved. The same physical and operational reasons that made Everett the logical choice for 12 Constellation-class frigates still apply to any new surface combatant the Navy wants to homeport in the Pacific Northwest. What has changed is the political geography around the decision, not the maritime geography.

    The Local Response: Military Affairs Committee Rebooted

    The community response was to get organized. In January 2026, the Economic Alliance Snohomish County — led by CEO Ray Stephanson — announced it was rebooting the Snohomish County Military Affairs Committee specifically to advocate for the station’s long-term future. The committee’s first meeting was held on February 23, 2026, with Snohomish County Council member Nate Nehring (R-Arlington) among the confirmed participants.

    The committee’s role, as described in its charter, is to serve as “a coordinated regional voice that understands both the national security implications and the local economic impacts” of decisions affecting the station. In practice, that means:

    • Resuming regular visits to the Pentagon to brief Navy leadership on Everett’s capabilities
    • Tracking Navy contract opportunities so Snohomish County businesses can bid on them
    • Coordinating with the Washington congressional delegation on authorization and appropriations language

    Stephanson described the cancellation as undermining years of work to establish Everett as a key Navy asset, and framed the committee’s purpose as protecting the station’s relevance in future budget cycles.

    What Current Operations Look Like

    Amid all of this, the day-to-day mission at Naval Station Everett has not changed. The installation remains home to guided-missile destroyers — including USS Momsen, USS Shoup, USS Gridley, USS Kidd, and USS Sampson — along with USS Rafael Peralta and other Arleigh Burke-class ships, plus two Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers and two U.S. Coast Guard vessels.

    The station continues to conduct routine operations and periodic training exercises, including the April 20–28, 2026 exercise in which community members observed blank-ammunition noise, temporary gate-access changes, and additional small-boat activity near the waterfront. The Navy emphasized that the exercise was routine and not in response to any specific threat.

    The Fleet & Family Support Center continues to run its full program calendar, including the 2026 Career Transition Series that wrapped in March and the MWR Mountaineering Program that returned for 2026. For Navy families stationed in Everett right now, the frigate-class question is a long-horizon issue; the day-to-day quality-of-life infrastructure is intact.

    The Economic Stakes

    The cancelled Constellation homeporting plan carried concrete economic numbers. The 2024 environmental study estimated the 12-ship assignment would bring 2,900 sailors and civilian personnel to the Everett area while displacing roughly 3,100 existing personnel through reassignments elsewhere in the fleet.

    Those numbers are now holding patterns, not commitments. Whether a similarly sized workforce arrives with the FF(X) — or with whatever combination of new-class surface combatants the Navy ultimately assigns to Everett — depends on homeport decisions that haven’t been made.

    For the local economy, the waiting period is the hard part. Housing demand assumptions, school enrollment planning, and business investment decisions that were anchored to the 2026–2028 frigate arrival timeline have to be re-baselined. The Economic Alliance has told local stakeholders that the rebooted Military Affairs Committee is the single most important vehicle for keeping Everett in the running.

    What to Watch

    Three data points will tell the story as it develops:

    • Where FFG-62 Constellation and FFG-63 Congress are homeported when they commission. If either is assigned to Everett, it signals the station is still in the Navy’s Pacific frigate rotation.
    • The FF(X) competitive yard selection. Additional yards beyond Ingalls would broaden the industrial base and, potentially, strengthen the case for Pacific basing.
    • The FY2027 and FY2028 shipbuilding appropriations. Homeport language sometimes appears in the committee report language accompanying defense authorization bills, even before formal Navy assignment.

    None of those data points are available yet. Everett’s job between now and when they are is to make the case — as the Military Affairs Committee, Rep. Larsen, Sen. Patty Murray, and Sen. Maria Cantwell are all actively doing — that the Pacific Northwest’s only deep-water Navy installation belongs in the Navy’s long-term surface combatant plan.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    What happened to the Constellation-class frigate program?
    On November 25, 2025, Secretary of the Navy John Phelan announced the program’s cancellation. The first two ships — FFG-62 Constellation and FFG-63 Congress — will finish construction at Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Wisconsin, but the next four planned ships were cancelled. Cost overruns exceeded $1 billion and delivery of the lead ship had slipped to April 2029.

    What is the FF(X) frigate replacing it?
    The FF(X) is a new frigate class based on HII’s Legend-class National Security Cutter, which is currently in service with the Coast Guard. It was announced by Secretary Phelan on December 19, 2025, with the stated goal of having a ship in the water by 2028. Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi will be the lead yard, and additional yards will be selected through competition.

    Will the FF(X) be homeported at Naval Station Everett?
    The Navy has not announced homeports for the new class. Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Everett) is lobbying Navy leadership to route the new frigates to Everett, citing the same Pacific access and pier infrastructure that supported the original Constellation assignment.

    What is the Snohomish County Military Affairs Committee?
    It is a regional advocacy committee led by Ray Stephanson of Economic Alliance Snohomish County, rebooted in January 2026 after the Constellation cancellation. Its first meeting was February 23, 2026. The committee coordinates with elected officials, union leaders, and community groups to advocate for Naval Station Everett’s long-term future.

    Is Naval Station Everett reducing operations?
    No. The Navy has not announced any plans to reduce the station’s operational footprint. Current destroyers and cruisers continue to deploy and return, the Fleet & Family Support Center remains fully operational, and routine training exercises continue on schedule.

    Who is the current commanding officer of Naval Station Everett?
    Capt. Stacy Wuthier is the commanding officer. For official inquiries, the station’s Public Affairs Office is the point of contact; media questions about program or basing decisions go through Navy Region Northwest and the Pentagon.

    Where can military families find resources in Everett?
    The Fleet & Family Support Center at Naval Station Everett offers the full range of Navy family programs, and the installation’s MWR programs run year-round. The Snohomish County Veterans Assistance Program office at 3000 Rockefeller Avenue in Everett supports transitioning service members and veterans. The Everett Vet Center at 1010 SE Everett Mall Way, Suite 207 offers counseling services.

  • Boeing Out-Delivered Airbus in Q1 2026 — And Everett Is About to Add the Capacity to Keep Doing It

    Boeing Out-Delivered Airbus in Q1 2026 — And Everett Is About to Add the Capacity to Keep Doing It

    Q: Did Boeing out-deliver Airbus in the first quarter of 2026?
    A: Yes. Boeing handed over 143 commercial airplanes in Q1 2026, beating Airbus’s 114. It’s the first quarterly delivery win for Boeing over Airbus since 2019, before the 737 MAX grounding. The 737 MAX accounted for 114 of the 143 deliveries — and Everett is the next factory adding to that single-aisle output.

    For the first time in seven years, Boeing handed over more commercial airplanes in a single quarter than Airbus did. The Q1 2026 scoreboard read 143 to 114 — and the most important number for Everett isn’t either of those. It’s 114, the number of 737 MAX jets Boeing delivered in three months, roughly 80% of the company’s commercial total.

    That’s the line Everett is about to plug into.

    What just happened on the delivery line

    Boeing delivered 143 commercial aircraft in Q1 2026. The mix, per the company’s own monthly disclosures and reporting from Aerotime and AIAA: 114 single-aisle 737 MAX jets, 15 widebody 787 Dreamliners, eight 777s, and six 767s. Defense, Space and Security delivered another 30 — Apache helicopters, KC-46 Pegasus tankers, and P-8 Poseidons — bringing the all-up Boeing total to 173 aircraft for the quarter, a 10.9% increase over Q1 2025.

    Airbus delivered 114 commercial aircraft over the same three months. The 29-airplane gap is the first time Boeing has finished a quarter ahead of its European rival since the first quarter of 2019 — the last quarter before the second 737 MAX 8 crash and the 20-month grounding that reset the entire competitive map.

    Boeing reports its full Q1 2026 earnings on April 22, 2026, and CEO Kelly Ortberg has already publicly framed the year as a recovery story rather than a victory lap. Production rates, not quarterly delivery totals, are the metric the company is being judged on.

    Why Everett is the load-bearing wall of this comeback

    Three of the four commercial models Boeing delivered in Q1 — the 767, the 777, and the 787 (final assembly in Charleston, but with significant Everett-built components) — flow through or originate from the Everett factory at Paine Field. The KC-46 Pegasus tanker, also assembled in Everett, drove a meaningful share of the defense deliveries. The factory’s 105th KC-46 rolled out April 3, on pace for 19 tanker deliveries in 2026.

    What Everett does not currently build is the 737 MAX — and that’s the next chapter.

    Boeing’s North Line, the new 737 MAX final assembly line being stood up at the Everett factory, is on track to begin production this summer. According to the company’s own April 2026 update, construction and tooling are complete, and CEO Kelly Ortberg has personally toured the line. The remaining work is hiring and training — hundreds of new and transferred teammates from Renton, Everett, and Moses Lake who will assemble 737-8, 737-9 and 737-10 jets in a building that has spent its entire history building widebodies.

    The production rate math, in plain English

    Here’s why the North Line matters for any future quarter that looks like Q1 2026.

    The FAA formally lifted Boeing’s 737 MAX production rate cap in March 2026 after the company sustained quality metrics at its Renton plant. Boeing has confirmed a steady rate of 38 MAX per month as of late March. CEO Ortberg has signaled the company will step that up in five-aircraft increments — getting to 47 per month is the near-term target Boeing has guided publicly.

    Anything above 47 per month, the company has said, will be built in Everett on the North Line. That’s the structural change. Renton was the world’s only 737 factory for decades. Now Everett gets to be the second.

    Industry analysts at AirInsight have noted Boeing is publicly aiming for combined output of 53 MAX per month by year-end 2026, with longer-term ambitions toward 63. None of that is possible without the North Line in Everett.

    What Q1 looked like for Snohomish County workers

    Translate the headline numbers down to ground level and you get this: every 737 MAX delivered to a customer in Q1 2026 represented work for thousands of people across the Puget Sound aerospace ecosystem — Renton final assembly, Auburn fabrication, Frederickson composites, Moses Lake, and the dense web of Snohomish County suppliers documented in the 600-company aerospace supply chain that surrounds the Everett factory.

    Q1’s 114 MAX deliveries were entirely Renton’s. The next year’s deliveries will be a mix. By 2027, if production rate goals hold, Everett will be building a meaningful share of the 737 MAX volume Boeing’s customers are waiting for. That’s net new aerospace assembly work for the city for the first time in a generation — narrowbody, not widebody, but assembly work all the same.

    For Everett, the spillover is what it always has been: jobs anchored to the factory feed housing demand south of Boeing Boulevard, lunch traffic at every restaurant within five miles of Paine Field, gym memberships, school enrollments, and the property tax base that pays for fire, libraries, and parks. The North Line ramp-up is the first major Everett-specific Boeing growth story since the 777X line was set up — and unlike the 777X program, the 737 MAX has a delivery backlog of more than 4,500 airplanes Boeing has already booked.

    What to watch in Q2 and beyond

    A few things Everett readers should keep an eye on between now and the next quarterly delivery report:

    The Lufthansa 777-9 first flight. Boeing has targeted April 2026 for the first flight of a production-standard 777X out of Paine Field, with Lufthansa as the launch customer. That milestone moves Everett’s marquee widebody program closer to certification, with delivery now slipped to early 2027.

    North Line first conformity airplane. Boeing’s stated process is to build a small number of “low-rate initial production” and conformity aircraft on the North Line before fully integrating the line into the broader 737 MAX flow. The first North Line airplane will be a defining Everett milestone.

    SPEEA’s October 6 contract expiration. The engineers’ and technical workers’ union is in active bargaining preparation. Anything that disrupts engineering support on the factory floor would slow down the very rate ramp Q1’s deliveries depend on.

    737 MAX rate increase to 47/month. That’s the target Boeing needs to hit before any of its monthly deliveries shift to Everett. Watch the FAA’s monthly production data as it’s published.

    The bigger picture for Everett

    Q1 2026 wasn’t a fluke quarter. Boeing’s commercial backlog at the end of March stood at more than 6,000 aircraft, with the 737 MAX accounting for roughly three-quarters of that order book. The company’s challenge is not finding customers — it’s getting airplanes out the door fast enough to keep them.

    That’s the problem Everett is being asked to help solve. The North Line going hot this summer isn’t a feel-good ribbon cutting. It’s the only path Boeing has publicly identified to push 737 MAX production above 47 a month, and 47 a month isn’t enough to clear the order book on the timelines Boeing’s customers are demanding.

    For the city of Everett, the stakes are simple: Boeing’s recovery is Everett’s recovery. Q1 2026 was the first proof point that Boeing can out-build Airbus again. The next proof point lands in this city.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    How many planes did Boeing deliver in Q1 2026?

    Boeing delivered 143 commercial airplanes in the first quarter of 2026: 114 737 MAX, 15 787 Dreamliners, eight 777s, and six 767s. Boeing’s defense unit delivered another 30 aircraft, for a total of 173 across the company.

    Did Boeing actually beat Airbus on deliveries?

    Yes. Airbus delivered 114 commercial aircraft in Q1 2026 to Boeing’s 143. It is the first time Boeing has out-delivered Airbus in a single quarter since 2019, before the 20-month 737 MAX grounding.

    Where is Boeing building 737 MAX jets right now?

    Currently in Renton, Washington. A new Everett “North Line” is on track to begin 737 MAX production this summer at the Boeing Everett factory at Paine Field. Once the North Line is integrated into the production flow, anything above 47 MAX per month will come out of Everett.

    What does the Everett factory build today?

    The Everett factory currently produces the 767 (commercial freighter and KC-46 Pegasus military tanker), the 777, and the 777X. The 737 MAX North Line will be a new program added to the building this year.

    How many KC-46 tankers has Everett delivered?

    Boeing delivered its 105th KC-46 tanker on April 3, 2026, with another 18 scheduled for delivery from Everett in 2026.

    What is Boeing’s 737 MAX production rate goal?

    Boeing’s near-term target is 47 jets per month, with combined Renton and Everett output potentially reaching 53 by the end of 2026. Long-term, the company is publicly aiming for 63 per month, though the timeline is uncertain.

    When does Boeing report Q1 2026 earnings?

    April 22, 2026. The earnings call will give a clearer picture of the financial story behind the delivery numbers, including any updated guidance on 737 MAX rate ramp and 777X certification.

    What does this mean for Everett’s economy?

    The North Line ramp-up represents Everett’s first net-new Boeing assembly program since the 777X. The 737 MAX has more than 4,500 airplanes on backlog, and Everett’s share of that work translates directly into local jobs, housing demand, and tax base growth in Snohomish County.

  • Across the Street From Boeing: How IAM 751’s Machinists Institute Is Training Everett’s North Line Workforce

    Across the Street From Boeing: How IAM 751’s Machinists Institute Is Training Everett’s North Line Workforce

    Q: Where is the Machinists Institute training the workers Boeing needs for Everett’s new 737 line?
    A: At 8729 Airport Road in Everett, directly across the street from the Boeing Everett factory and Sno-Isle Tech Skills Center. IAM District 751’s 23,000-square-foot Machinists Institute & Union Hall opened in June 2025 and is built to train up to 700 new machinists per year — the talent pipeline now flowing into Boeing’s 737 MAX North Line ramp-up this summer.

    Stand on Airport Road in south Everett and look across the street. On one side: the Boeing Everett factory, the largest building in the world by volume, currently rebuilding the second of two 737 MAX final assembly lines for production this summer. On the other side: a 23,000-square-foot building that opened in June 2025 with one explicit mission — train the people who will work in that factory.

    The geography is not a coincidence. The IAM District 751 Machinists Institute & Union Hall at 8729 Airport Road was deliberately sited within walking distance of the Boeing factory it feeds. With Boeing’s North Line on track to begin 737 MAX production this summer, the workforce pipeline running across that street is one of the most underrated stories in Everett’s 2026 economy.

    What the Machinists Institute actually is

    The Machinists Institute is the training arm of IAM District 751, the union that represents roughly 33,000 Boeing machinists across Washington state. The Everett building, dedicated in June 2025 and detailed in Lynnwood Times coverage of the grand opening, sits across from Sno-Isle Tech Skills Center on Airport Road.

    The capacity headline: up to 700 new machinists per year, plus continuing education and industry certifications for current IAM 751 members. That’s the published throughput target. It includes pre-apprenticeship training, full apprenticeships, and shorter-cycle credential programs — all designed so a graduate can walk into a Boeing aerospace job, or any other manufacturing employer in the region, without a multi-month gap between school and shop floor.

    The building itself is the kind of facility you don’t expect from a union hall. Per the IAM’s own materials and reporting at the opening, the equipment list includes computer-numerical-control (CNC) simulators, virtual-reality welding and paint booths, advanced metrology tools, 3D printers, programmable logic controllers, and augmented-reality industrial training systems — alongside the working-equipment fundamentals: real mills, real lathes, real welding rigs running the same metals and tolerances Boeing assemblers see at work.

    Why the timing matters: the North Line is hiring

    Boeing’s North Line — the second 737 MAX final assembly line being stood up in Everett — is on track for production launch this summer. Boeing’s own April 2026 update describes the plant as built and tooled, with hiring and training the remaining work. CEO Kelly Ortberg has personally toured the line.

    The North Line workforce will be a combination of newly hired teammates and existing Boeing workers transferring from Renton, Everett, and Moses Lake. That “newly hired” half is the part the Machinists Institute is positioned to fill. Industry coverage from Aviation A2Z has put the daily hiring pace at well over 100 assemblers per day during the ramp window — a number that is impossible to sustain at quality without a local training pipeline producing factory-ready candidates.

    Outside the Boeing pipeline specifically, the same building is producing welders, machinists, and CNC operators who will end up at the roughly 600 small and mid-sized aerospace suppliers the Snohomish County aerospace supply chain runs on. Every one of those suppliers competes with Boeing for the same skilled-labor pool.

    What it actually takes to become a Boeing machinist in 2026

    The traditional path into Boeing has historically been the IAM/Boeing Joint Apprenticeship Program — a structured, paid, multi-year apprenticeship that combines on-the-job hours with classroom instruction. That program continues. The Machinists Institute layers on shorter, more flexible entry points designed for adults who can’t commit to a multi-year apprenticeship up front:

    Pre-apprenticeship. Short-cycle programs — typically a few weeks to a few months — that introduce shop fundamentals, safety, math, blueprint reading, and basic machining. Designed for career-changers and people coming out of high school who haven’t decided on a specific trade yet.

    Apprenticeship. Full registered apprenticeships in CNC machining, manufacturing technology, and related crafts. Paid work plus structured classroom hours, with credentials recognized statewide.

    Continuing education. Aimed at current IAM 751 members — refresher and upskill courses on new tooling, new processes, new materials. The aerospace industry isn’t static, and the same machinist who’s run conventional aluminum for 20 years may need to retrain on composite layup or advanced metrology for a new program.

    For someone in Everett today wondering whether the Boeing North Line is a real career path, the answer is that there is now a building, with real equipment, a few hundred yards from the factory floor, designed to take you from interested to hired.

    Why this kind of facility didn’t exist before

    Aerospace workforce development in Snohomish County used to lean heavily on the community college system and on Boeing’s internal training pipelines. Everett Community College, the University of Washington Everett campus, and Sno-Isle Tech Skills Center all played, and continue to play, large roles. What was missing was a labor-side facility — owned by the union that represents the workers, with the curriculum tuned to the specific equipment and processes the employer actually uses.

    The Machinists Institute fills that gap. Demolition for the building broke ground on February 26, 2024. The facility opened June 6, 2025 — about 16 months from groundbreaking to ribbon cutting. By the time the Boeing North Line begins producing 737 MAX jets this summer, the institute will have a year of operations under its belt and a steady output of credentialed machinists.

    What this means for Everett families

    If you’re a parent in Everett wondering whether aerospace is still a viable career bet for your kids, the math is more favorable than it was five years ago.

    Boeing has more than 4,500 737 MAX aircraft on order. The company’s stated production rate goal — 47 per month near-term, with longer-range targets at 53 and eventually 63 — translates to thousands of additional Puget Sound aerospace jobs over the next several years. That demand will be filled by some combination of internal Boeing transfers, fresh hires from the broader labor market, and graduates of programs like the Machinists Institute. Add in the supply chain, and the math gets even bigger.

    Aerospace work is not what it was in the 1990s. It’s more technical, the equipment is more sophisticated, and the credentialing matters more. Boeing’s hiring profile has shifted toward people who arrive at the gate already knowing how to read a blueprint, run a CNC mill, or set up a metrology check. That’s the gap the Machinists Institute is trying to close — and it’s why a building across the street from the factory turned out to be a strategic move, not a real-estate one.

    How to actually get into the program

    Anyone interested in pre-apprenticeship, apprenticeship, or continuing education through the Machinists Institute can find current intake information through the institute’s website and the IAM 751 site. The traditional Boeing apprenticeship application path is administered through the IAM/Boeing Joint Program.

    For Everett residents specifically: the Airport Road location means the building is reachable on Community Transit’s south Everett routes and is a short drive from most of the city. That accessibility was a deliberate part of the site selection.

    The bigger picture

    Workforce stories don’t get the headlines that delivery numbers and production rate caps do. But every 737 MAX that comes off the North Line this fall will have been built by someone — and an increasing share of those someones are going to come through the building across Airport Road.

    For Everett, the Machinists Institute is one of the clearest physical signals that aerospace isn’t just a legacy industry holding on. It’s an active, hiring, training, expanding part of the city’s economy — and the building tells you Boeing’s union side believes that, too. You don’t put up a 23,000-square-foot training center across the street from a factory you don’t think will be hiring.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Where is the Machinists Institute in Everett?

    8729 Airport Road, Everett, WA — directly across the street from the Boeing Everett factory and adjacent to Sno-Isle Tech Skills Center.

    When did the Machinists Institute open?

    The 23,000-square-foot facility was dedicated on June 6, 2025, after breaking ground in February 2024.

    How many people can the Machinists Institute train per year?

    The institute’s published capacity is up to 700 new machinists per year, plus continuing education for existing IAM 751 members.

    Who runs the Machinists Institute?

    It is operated by IAM District 751, the union that represents roughly 33,000 Boeing machinists in Washington state.

    Do you have to be in the union to train there?

    No. The institute offers pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs that are open to people not currently employed at Boeing or in the union. Continuing education programs are aimed at current IAM 751 members.

    What kind of equipment is at the institute?

    CNC simulators and real CNC mills and lathes, virtual-reality welding and paint booths, advanced metrology tools, 3D printers, programmable logic controllers, augmented reality industrial training systems, and fully outfitted welding rigs.

    Will graduates be hired by Boeing’s new 737 line?

    Boeing’s North Line will combine internal transfers from Renton, Everett, and Moses Lake with newly hired workers. The Machinists Institute is one of the primary local pipelines for training those new hires, but graduation does not guarantee a Boeing job — candidates still apply through Boeing’s standard hiring process.

    How does this fit into the broader Snohomish County aerospace job market?

    Beyond Boeing, Snohomish County is home to roughly 600 aerospace suppliers that also hire machinists, welders, and CNC operators. Machinists Institute graduates feed both the Boeing pipeline and the broader supplier network.

  • Claude Context Window Size 2026: What 1 Million Tokens Actually Means

    Claude Context Window Size 2026: What 1 Million Tokens Actually Means

    Last refreshed: May 15, 2026

    Looking for quick answers? The FAQ version covers every common question directly.

    → Context Window FAQ

    Claude’s context window is one of those specs that sounds simple until you actually need to use it. “1 million tokens” means almost nothing without a frame of reference. This is the guide we wish existed when we started building on Claude — written from our own experience running it in production, with numbers pulled directly from Anthropic’s official documentation.

    Quick Definition

    The context window is Claude’s working memory for a conversation. It holds everything Claude can see and reason about at once: your messages, Claude’s responses, any documents you’ve shared, and system prompts. When the window fills up, earlier content drops out.

    Current Context Window Sizes by Model (May 2026)

    These numbers come directly from Anthropic’s official models page, fetched May 9, 2026. Model strings are exact API identifiers:

    Model API String Context Window Max Output
    Claude Opus 4.7 claude-opus-4-7 1,000,000 tokens 128,000 tokens
    Claude Sonnet 4.6 claude-sonnet-4-6 1,000,000 tokens 64,000 tokens
    Claude Haiku 4.5 claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 200,000 tokens 64,000 tokens

    Opus 4.7 and Sonnet 4.6 both have the full 1M token context window. Haiku 4.5 is 200K. The key difference between Opus 4.7 and Sonnet 4.6 in this table is the max output — Opus 4.7 can write up to 128K tokens in a single response, Sonnet 4.6 caps at 64K.

    What Does 1 Million Tokens Actually Hold?

    Token counts are an abstraction. Here’s what 1 million tokens translates to in practical terms:

    • About 750,000 words of English text — roughly 10 full-length novels, or 1,500 average blog posts
    • A full mid-size codebase — a 50,000-line Python project with comments fits comfortably
    • Hours of meeting transcripts — a full workday of recorded calls, transcribed, fits in one context window
    • Multiple large documents simultaneously — 10 research PDFs at 30 pages each, all in the same conversation
    • Long conversation histories — hundreds of back-and-forth exchanges before anything starts dropping off

    We’ve loaded entire Notion exports, full project histories, and multi-document research packs into a single Claude session. At 1M tokens, you’re unlikely to hit the ceiling in a normal working session. You hit it when you’re doing things like: loading your entire codebase plus documentation plus conversation history and then asking Claude to do a full architectural review.

    Context Window vs. Memory: What’s the Difference?

    This is where a lot of people get confused. The context window and memory are not the same thing:

    • Context window: What Claude can see right now, in this session. Once a session ends, it’s gone.
    • Memory (in claude.ai): A separate system that extracts and stores key information from past sessions. It surfaces relevant facts into future conversations as a snippet in the context.
    • Managed Agents memory stores: A developer-layer construct where agents maintain and update knowledge bases across sessions — distinct from both the context window and the consumer memory feature.

    The 1M token context window is your working memory for one session. It doesn’t persist. Memory systems are what carry information across sessions — but they work by injecting a summary into the context window of the new session, not by giving Claude access to the full history.

    Does a Bigger Context Window Mean Better Performance?

    Mostly yes, with one important nuance. More context means Claude has more information to reason about, which generally produces better outputs for tasks that benefit from full context — code reviews, document synthesis, long-form writing, multi-document comparison.

    The nuance: performance can degrade on tasks involving specific information buried deep in a very long context. This is sometimes called the “lost in the middle” problem — models tend to pay more attention to the beginning and end of a long context than the middle. Anthropic has worked on this with Claude’s architecture, and it performs well on long-context tasks, but it’s worth structuring important information at natural reference points rather than burying it in the middle of a 500-page document.

    How We Actually Use the 1M Token Window

    We run Claude in production for content operations, site management, and agentic coding workflows. Here’s where the 1M context window makes a concrete difference in our work:

    • Full site audits: Loading every post from a WordPress site (200+ posts worth of content) into one session for comprehensive SEO analysis — without having to chunk and re-prompt
    • Cross-session context: Pasting in long Notion briefings, prior session transcripts, and the current task in one go. The window is large enough that we don’t have to decide what to leave out.
    • Codebase-wide reasoning: In Claude Code, having the full project context means Claude can make changes that account for how files interact rather than reasoning only about the current file
    • Multi-document synthesis: Research projects where we load 10-15 source documents and ask Claude to synthesize across them — something that was impossible at 100K context windows

    The practical shift from 200K to 1M tokens wasn’t just “more room.” It changed what we could ask Claude to do in a single session.

    Context Window on the API: Batch Output Extension

    For API users: on the Message Batches API, Opus 4.7, Opus 4.6, and Sonnet 4.6 support up to 300K output tokens using the output-300k-2026-03-24 beta header. This is relevant for batch generation tasks where you need very long outputs — documentation generation, large codebases, book-length content.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    What is Claude’s context window in 2026?

    Claude Opus 4.7 and Claude Sonnet 4.6 both have 1,000,000 token (1M token) context windows as of May 2026. Claude Haiku 4.5 has a 200,000 token context window. These are the current generally available models.

    How many pages can Claude read at once?

    At 1M tokens, Claude can hold roughly 750,000 words of English text — equivalent to approximately 3,000 average pages. In practice, a typical 20-page PDF is roughly 10,000-15,000 tokens, so you could load 60-100 such documents in a single session before approaching the limit.

    Does the context window reset between messages?

    No — the context window accumulates across an entire conversation session. Every message you send and every response Claude gives adds to the total. The window doesn’t reset between individual messages; it resets when you start a new conversation.

    What happens when Claude hits the context window limit?

    When a conversation reaches the context window limit, earlier messages begin to drop out of the active context. Claude can no longer reference information from those earlier messages — it effectively forgets that part of the conversation. In the claude.ai interface, you’ll see a notification when you’re approaching the limit.

    Is the 1M context window available on the free plan?

    The model available to free plan users has access to the 1M context window. However, free plan usage limits mean long-context sessions hit rate limits faster than paid plans. The window is technically available, but sustained heavy use of it is more practical on paid tiers.

    What’s the difference between Claude Opus 4.7 and Sonnet 4.6 context windows?

    Both have the same 1M token input context window. The difference is max output: Opus 4.7 can generate up to 128,000 tokens in a single response; Sonnet 4.6 caps at 64,000 tokens. For most tasks this distinction doesn’t matter, but for very long document generation or large code outputs, Opus 4.7 has the higher output ceiling.