Explore Washington State
Washington State Destinations
Washington State packs more geographic variety into one state than almost anywhere else in the country. In a single weekend, you can wake up to ocean fog on the Pacific coast, drive through old growth rainforest, and fall asleep under the stars in the high desert east of the Cascades. That kind of range makes trip planning exciting, though it can occasionally feel overwhelming.
This section is where we have gathered every destination guide, weekend escape, day trip, and local find we have published across the state. Every post is written by someone who actually made the drive, not a sponsored itinerary or filler content. Real trips, real opinions, real Washington.
We cover all corners of the state: the wild beaches and rainforests of the Olympic Peninsula, the ferry accessible islands of Puget Sound, mountain towns like Leavenworth and Winthrop in the Cascades, the wine country and wide open spaces of Eastern Washington, and the day trip destinations within easy reach of Seattle. Whether you are planning a family vacation, a solo road trip, or a quick weekend getaway, you will find something worth bookmarking here.
Browse recent posts below, or use the county and city tags on any post to find more content from a specific area. Washington rewards the curious traveler and there is always another destination worth discovering.
Washington joined the Union as the 42nd state, so here are 42 fun facts to match: the only state named after a president, a Bigfoot refuge, a full size Stonehenge, and more.
There are 14 Columbia River state parks Washington has designated along its shores, and most visitors only know a few of them. The Columbia runs more than 300 miles through the state, from the Canadian border to the Pacific coast, and each park on its shores is completely different from the last. What makes this...
The Saturday Verdict: Worth it. But your real options are smaller than the search results suggest, and a couple of them disappeared in the last year. Two historic lodges. Two drive up campgrounds one that takes reservations. One year round campground that turned into a backcountry hike when a bridge was condemned in April 2025....
Saturday Verdict: Worth a Saturday for the drive and a hike. Worth a weekend if you fish, float, or camp. The Yakima River Canyon is the 25-mile stretch of State Route 821 that connects Ellensburg and Yakima through basalt cliffs and high desert. Most people on I-82 between Seattle and the Tri-Cities have never turned...
Have you ever had a place entirely to yourself? I pulled into the Fort Simcoe Historical State Park parking lot on a September afternoon and found it completely empty. Not a single other car. For a park that preserves one of the few surviving frontier forts from the 1850s in the Pacific Northwest, that kind...
The Saturday Verdict: Worth it. But plan to stay overnight. Visiting Hoh Rainforest means stepping into the wettest place in the contiguous United States. 140 inches of rain per year. Sitka spruce trees over 300 feet tall wrapped in so much old man’s beard lichen they look like something from a film set. Roosevelt elk...
Saturday Verdict: Worth a full day. Worth two days if you time it for late April or early May. Birding North Cascades Highway (SR 20) is something most of the spring crowd misses entirely. The road opens every season to motorcyclists, photographers, and people who have been watching the WSDOT pass cam since March. What...
You have driven past the Cle Elum exit on I-90 more times than you can count. Most people have. It is 80 miles east of Seattle, just past Snoqualmie Pass, and it looks from the highway like a gas station and a Dairy Queen. It is not. Here is what is actually worth your time...
Spring in Seattle means one thing for a few glorious weeks each year: cherry blossoms. The city comes alive with pink and white blooms at parks, gardens, and campuses across every neighborhood. Most people know about the famous trees at the University of Washington, and for good reason, but Seattle has more cherry blossom viewing...
Blake Island Marine State Park to us, is a local paradise and what the locals call a “Blakation”! Your arrival at the island puts you directly into another world. You will be greeted with grazing deer, possibly a bald eagle, the sounds of birds chirping and the waves crashing over the rocks on the beach....
Hey there, fellow adventurers! Grab your favorite PNW flannel, lace up those hiking boots, and maybe pack a cozy picnic basket, because today, we’re setting our sights on a place where stunning natural beauty meets fascinating military history: Fort Flagler State Park. If you’re looking for a day trip that offers a little bit of everything...
Waikiki Beach Cape Disappointment State Park is one of Washington’s most spectacular winter destinations, where storm-watching, coastal forest hikes, and sweeping views of the Columbia River mouth await. Who needs to hop on a flight and wing their way across the Pacific for some primo beach adventures when you can do the same thing closer...
