Explore Washington State
Things To Do in Washington State
Washington State gives you an almost unreasonable number of options for how to spend your time. Whether you are looking for something to do on a rainy afternoon in Seattle, a full week of outdoor adventure on the Peninsula, or a low key weekend in a small town you have never heard of, this state rewards people who are willing to explore beyond the obvious.
This section is where we collect everything that falls under the category of actually doing something in Washington. You will find activity guides, local recommendations, seasonal ideas, things to do with kids, hidden gems worth the detour, and honest assessments of whether something is actually worth your time. Every post is written by someone who has been there.
We cover the full range: outdoor activities like hiking, kayaking, and skiing alongside arts, food, history, and local culture. Washington is one of those states where the things worth doing in a small coastal town are just as compelling as what you will find in its major cities. There is genuinely a lot here that most people never get around to.
Browse by scrolling through recent posts below, or use the county and city tags on any post to find activities in a specific area. If you are looking for somewhere to start, the county guides are a good way to get oriented.
Skamania and Klickitat counties are known for their gorge-ous (pun intended) Columbia River Gorge views and a variety of outdoor recreation options. But did you know it’s also a fantastic area for locally made craft beer, cider and spirits? Read on for some of my favorites, including where to find great sour beers and family-friendly...
As a rule, university campuses are very nice. Even those tucked into the middle of big cities, like the University of Washington in Seattle, offer students and visitors beautiful walking and biking trails and great vistas. But until we moved to Vancouver from eastern Washington three years ago, I had never gotten lost in what...
It was late Friday evening when my wife Johanna and I decided to drive to Whidbey Island the next morning. A little bit of research on Instagram made our decisions easy. The island looked gorgeous! As Canadians living near the border, we have been to Washington many times. We usually tend to explore Bellingham to...
Looking for a short and manageable hike with stunning 360-degree views that reward you? Look no further than Washington’s High Rock Trail located in the Gifford-Pinchot National Forest in Lewis County, near Mount Rainier. The trail is 3.2 miles roundtrip with a moderately steep elevation gain of 1,365 feet. Yes, it is steep, but it...
Want a gem of a hike that’s family-friendly and won’t take an all-day drive? This is your go-to hike with a great reward: Teneriffe Falls, North Bend, WA. After our rainy January, I was delighted to see the sun out and raced for the mountains. Weekends are busy on popular hikes such as this, but...
The Tri-Cities is blessed with 300 days of glorious sunshine and an average of less than eight inches of precipitation each year. Located in the southeastern heart of Washington State, the Tri-Cities landscape is vast and open, mottled with curved hillsides, dramatic cliff-fronts, endless miles of rippling rivers and sweeping vineyards and farmlands. Amongst the...
Take a drive, away from the noise of the city and into the Washington country. Not too far lies an ornament of history. 15 minutes from I-5 and only 30 minutes from Vancouver, the roads to Cedar Creek Grist Mill are Sunday-drive perfect — windy, sleepy and nestled in the shadows of hazy hills and mountains....
Wallaby Ranch in Fall City is easily one of the most surprisingly outstanding experiences I’ve had on my day trips in Washington state. It’s not every day, month or even year that you get the opportunity to have such an intimate encounter with an animal so traditionally thought of as exotic in our region of...
Do you believe in ghosts? I do. Though, I’m not the type to go seeking them out on purpose. And as far as believing a hike could be haunted? For me, that is a stretch. Though I will use any excuse — even ghost hunting — if it means a walk in the woods. The...
Springtime in Washington means an abundance of blooms. Daffodils and crocus flowers begin to bloom, along with the hundreds of fruits and vegetables that begin to emerge from the ground after a chilly winter. But there’s one floral staple that begins to bloom in mid-March, catching the attention of thousands of Washington residents and travelers...
Being new to Washington state, my family and I are always trying to explore and learn about our new home… basically spending our free time seeing where the road takes us. Venturing just 15 miles outside of downtown Vancouver, we recently spent the day in Camas. On the way there, as we traveled east along...
Point Ruston and the surrounding waterfront have come a long way from a place of mills, boatyards, warehouses and an infamous copper smelting plant. As a child I’d beg my mom to drive under the looming smelter tower via a 325-foot tunnel that had such a curve before the north entrance, drivers were directed to...
