Washington Travel Guide
Explore Seattle's Space Needle and coffee culture, hike Mount Rainier's glaciers, and kayak Puget Sound amid Washington's lush rainforests.
Washington Map
Places to See in Washington
Mount Rainier National ParkS, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Image Size Adjusted
Mount Rainier National Park★
National park preserving all of Mount Rainier, a 14,411-foot (4,392 m) stratovolcano, surrounded by valleys, waterfalls, subalpine meadows, and old-growth forest
Reywas92, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Image Size Adjusted
Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument★
Best known as the site of the historic 1980 volcanic eruption and offers a variety of recreation opportunities, including the chance to climb to the summit
North Cascades National Park★
Park features the rugged mountain peaks of the North Cascades Range, the most expansive glacial system in the contiguous United States, the headwaters of numerous waterways, and vast forests with the highest degree of flora biodiversity of any American national park
Dllu, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Cropped and Image Size Adjusted
Olympic National Park★
National park highlightng four regions: the Pacific coastline, alpine areas, the west-side temperate rainforest, and the forests of the drier east side and three distinct ecosystems
Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Cropped and Image Size Adjusted
Seattle★
Seaport city on the West Coast of the United States is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of North America
Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Image Size Adjusted
Leavenworth★
City in Washington known for the entire town center modeled on a German Bavarian village as part of a civic initiative that began in the 1960s
Kamiak Butte County Park
David Dugan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons, via Wikimedia Commons; Image Size Adjusted
Western Washington
Overview
Washington, in the Pacific Northwest, is named for George Washington, and was made out of the Washington Territory, ceded by Britain in 1846. About 60 percent of its residents live in the Seattle area on Puget Sound. It has three national parks (Mount Rainier, Olympic, and North Cascades), the Cascade volcanoes, a rain forest, and dry eastern plains. Olympia is the capital.
Regions at a Glance
| Region | What to Expect |
|---|---|
| Seattle and Puget Sound | The Space Needle, Pike Place Market, and ferries to the islands |
| Olympic Peninsula | Rain forest, beaches, and mountains |
| Mount Rainier | Wildflower meadows and glaciers |
| North Cascades | Jagged peaks and turquoise lakes |
| Mount St. Helens | The 1980 blast zone |
| Eastern Washington | Leavenworth, the Palouse, and Palouse Falls |
Good to Know
- Weather: wet west of the Cascades and dry to the east, and July through September is the best time for hiking
- Ferries: Washington State Ferries are the largest ferry system in the U.S.
Sports
- The Seattle Seahawks (NFL), Mariners (MLB), Kraken (NHL), Sounders (MLS), and Storm (WNBA)
- College: the Washington Huskies (Seattle) and Washington State Cougars (Pullman)
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Washington (state)", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0