Explore Washington State
Washington State Outdoor Recreation
Washington State has more terrain for outdoor recreation than most people ever fully explore. Within a few hours of any major city, you can be on a remote alpine trail, launching a kayak into a calm bay, or skiing powder in the Cascades. The variety here is genuinely extraordinary and it rewards people who are willing to look a little further than the usual bucket list destinations.
This section covers the active side of exploring Washington. You will find trail reports and hiking guides, state park reviews, tips for water access points, winter recreation routes, coastal walks, wildlife viewing spots, and the kind of outdoor stops that are worth adding to any road trip. Every post is written by someone who made the trip and came back with a real opinion rather than a press release.
Whether you are planning a technical summit, a family friendly day hike, or just looking for a quiet beach walk, the content here covers a wide range of skill levels and seasons. Washington has something worth getting outside for in every month of the year.
Browse recent posts below, or use the activity and county tags to filter by what you are looking for. There is always more out there than most people get around to finding.
Hopefully, heading toward the tail-end of 2020 means we’re also heading toward the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and can feel more comfortable exploring the beautiful state we live in. Thankfully, there are still plenty of safe outdoor activities for you outdoorsy types that you can do solo! Where to Kayak in Washington State Now,...
With so many trail options available to the greater Seattle area, it can be tough to choose one. Whether you’re visiting Seattle, new to hiking, or anxiously planning a mountain adventure, the internet can offer a wealth of information that can quickly become overwhelming. To narrow down the search, start by deciding how far you...
Step into the feral beauty of the Olympic Mountains with a day trip to the smooth-as-silk sapphire waters of Wynoochee Lake. Wynoochee Dam Located on the southern hip of the Olympic Peninsula, the Wynoochee Dam was built by the United States Army Corps of Engineers in 1972. It provides flood control, irrigation and industrial water...
If you want to go chasing waterfalls, but don’t want a hike that is super strenuous, Twin Falls in North Bend is the hike for you. Located in Olallie State Park, Twin Falls is a waterfall that cuts through a narrow rock canyon before plunging over a final 135-foot drop. It’s a 2.5-mile out and...
Signs of spring are popping up all across Washington. My home in Olympia has been surrounded by birdsong every morning as our avian neighbors get ready for the breeding season! To start my days, I like to sit in front of my living room window with a nice cup of coffee and watch Washington birds...
Mount Storm King in the Port Angeles area of Olympic National Park boasts one of the most incredible views in Washington. Climbing 2,000 feet above Lake Crescent, you can see almost the entire pristine blue lake, northern views of the Olympic Mountains, the San Juan Islands and Vancouver Island. My husband and I first tackled...
In a crazy year like the one we all just experienced, collectively we needed to grab hold of anything we could to keep some “normalcy” in our lives. Some of us got outdoors more, some of us bought a new home gym, some of us binged all of Game of Thrones, and well, some of...
“300 days of sunshine” is a promise worth traveling for — especially in the winter. So after spending much of the season in hibernation, my partner and I hit the road for a destination just three hours from the Seattle area: Lake Chelan. This massive, glacially-carved lake runs over 50 miles from the Cascade Mountains...
One thing unique to Washington and other ocean neighboring states is the abundance of food that doesn’t come processed or from a factory. Washington, in particular, is special in that it receives food from the Pacific Ocean, through the foothills, flatlands and up into the Cascade Mountain Range and other mountains. Washington offers an abundance...
As a 90’s kid, Warner Bros’ “Free Willy” was my introduction to Orcas. I imagined myself as Jesse, fist high in the air screaming “Yeah!” as Willy leapt into the Pacific and swam to freedom. As cheesy as the film may seem now, fictional Willy tells a not-so-fictional story. Many of these animals spend their...
For those who read the recent article about escaping COVID screen time and getting outdoors, you saw a list of six or so activities to do in Washington’s great outdoors. You may have done them alone to get some individual, “you” time. You may have gotten those kids of yours off the screen and out...
Mount Rainier so dominates Northwest geography that worthy nearby locales are easily overlooked. But when summer throngs clog the Queen of the Cascades, solitude and serenity can be found just a few miles south of the great mountain along the Cispus Area Loop and vicinity. Located off U.S. Highway 12 near Randle in east Lewis...
