J-Mack Ferry

Ran by Cal-trans. Quick and easy AND FREE! Using the ferry can save you an hour or more. It was so very cool to beat our friends to our campsite because their RV was too big to ride..

Adventure awaited us sun-filled yesterday, and a trip up into the Sacramento Delta it was! Part of our road adventure led us to using a "cable ferry" - literally a barge that carries your car across a body of water. The last time I was on one was up in Seattle ages ago.The stretch of river wasn't very wide at this crossing, so we were on and off within 5 minutes. But it was so much fun! If I closed my eyes, I could almost pretend my car had changed into Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (yes, I dated myself there). I highly recommend trying this ferry system out if you ever find yourself lost in the delta regions.

The 41 year old J-Mack Ferry AKA Steamboat Slough Ferry will take you across from either HWY 220 Ryer Island (Solano County) and Grand Island (Sacramento County) on the delta waterways of the Steamboat Slough. The ferry is free in both directions and is operation by Caltrans. Its a cable ferry that's run around the clock.The J-Mack is closed for lunch 8-8:20am and again at 7-7;20pm. Captains are on 12 hour shifts.This ferry is a local way of transportation for many farmers.

Such a fun way to cross the water when you have kids in the car. It's a trip to get pulled by cable across the river.

Cool little ferry, the guy running it seemed like an angry elf but other than that pretty smooth, quick and free.

I pride myself in being a man of action and adventure; so when I came face to face with the infamous J-Mack vehicle ferry I immediately turned my Honda CRV downhill and on to the pitching deck of the ferry which crosses Steamboat Slough in the Sacramento Delta, connecting Grand Island to East Ryer Island; about a 400-foot three-minute ride. (The vessel is actually classified as an extension of Highway 220.)The J-Mack is a 92-foot long by 32-foot wide cable drawn ferry and can carry up to six vehicles; of in our case, two motorcycles and a Honda CRV driven by a 60-year old man. . . It's a short (think, count to fifty and it's over) ride but just quirky enough to be worth the drive to make the crossing. The Delta region is a beautiful area to wander through this time of year and finding this ferry just added to an already nice afternoon.

It's free, and it is a fun adventure.But the operators are bored, rude, and disrespectful.And it is unclear if you are allowed to get out of your car for any reason. Signage is vague.Needs improvement.