National Parks and Monuments

lake crescent lodge

Five Rustic Resorts and Lodges on the Olympic Peninsula

Planning a trip to America’s national parks usually involves camping or staying in a historic lodge. Olympic National Park is no exception, with countless campgrounds, lodges and resorts to choose…

Mount Rainier and Wildflowers

Mount Rainier’s Timed Entry: What You Need to Know for 2024

Explore the essential guide to Mount Rainier’s new timed entry system for 2024, enhancing visitor experience and preserving natural beauty

diablo lake overlook

Diablo Lake Washington: Camping and Hiking in the North Cascades

For pristine wildlife and scenery, it doesn’t get much better than the divine views of Diablo Lake in North Cascades National Park. North Cascades National Park is one of the…

Ocean Sunset

Eight Hidden Gems to Discover in Washington National Parks

Here in the Evergreen State, we have a pretty great reputation for our mountains, our coffee and our rain. If that isn’t awesome enough, we are also fortunate enough to…

Adirondack chairs at quinault lodge

Spending a Weekend at Lake Quinault Washington

“The lake between two rivers,” Lake Quinault is a glacially-carved lake situated at the edge of pristine temperate rainforest on the Olympic Peninsula. Lake Quinault is the ideal jumping-off point…

kayakers on lake crescent

Must-See Spots on the Olympic Peninsula

As road trips and nature have become the go-to for travel this year, Washington state offers so much to explore. The Olympic Peninsula is an incredible family escape offering something…

The Fremont Lookout

Spending Three Days at Mount Rainier

For a while, I lived in a van. When it was time to explore any given place I usually gave myself an unlimited time limit on my adventuring since I…

Temperate rainforest

Exploring the Hoh Rain Forest

We’ve all heard the opinion that among the different locations in the United States, western Washington is almost perpetually grey and rainy. While that may be the case in winter…

Spending a Weekend in Olympic National Park

Considering the seemingly never-ending natural beauty of Washington State, it is sometimes easy to forget about the wonders of the Olympic Peninsula. Sprawling nearly one million acres, Olympic National Park…

Signs of the Volcano’s Wrath

Mount Saint Helens – Johnston Ridge Observatory   We reached the top of SR 504 at Johnston Ridge Observatory and saw what seemed to be an alien landscape. In the previous…

Mount Saint Helens

Rebirth of a Forest

Most folks who remember the eruption of Mount Saint Helens in 1980 remember the monochrome photos of devastation; trees tossed like matchsticks and coated with gray ash, looking more like…

Mount Saint Helens

Remembering the Day the Mountain Blew 

Where were you when the mountain blew? If you’ve lived in Washington state very long, you have no doubt been asked this question. For those of us who lived here on…