12 Amazing Washington Day Trips That Are Worth The Drive
In Washington, three different National Parks are located within a three-hour drive from Seattle, providing access to beautiful natural scenery. In the east, Mount Spokane State Park provides year-round outdoor recreation. Walla Walla boasts bountiful vinicultural attractions in one of the best wine regions in the country. Road trips are some of the best ways to experience the beauty and history of Washington, and these destinations are a great place to start.
North Cascades National Park
About two and half hours northeast of Seattle, North Cascades National Park covers over 500,000 acres in the rugged northern reaches of the Cascade Range. A beautiful landscape of jagged peaks, alpine lakes, densely forested valleys, and over 300 glaciers, almost the entirety of the park is protected wilderness and contains few man-made structures, meaning that visitors to the park get to experience pristine natural splendor.
For a day trip, there are few better introductions to the park than driving the North Cascades Scenic Highway. Starting from the North Cascades Visitor Center in Newhalem, the road travels across the park for thirty miles and provides access to some of the most memorable vistas and the area has to offer. Overlooks at Diablo and Ross Lakes provide panoramic views of the famous turquoise waters and the craggy mountains that surround them. If you’re after high-elevation views, the overlook at Washington Pass sits at 5,477 feet and has great views of Liberty Bell Mountain and the valley below. If you want to stretch your legs and explore the park on foot, several shorter day hikes like the Trail of the Cedars, Gorge Creek Falls, and Thunder Knob have easily accessible trailheads right along the road.
Pike Place Market
The oldest continuously operating farmer’s market in the country, Pike Place Market is located right in the heart of downtown Seattle overlooking Elliot Bay. One of the city’s most popular attractions, the sprawling market is visited by ten million people every year and is packed with vendor stalls, unique shops, and delicious restaurants. With over five hundred independently owned stores spread across ten floors and roughly four city blocks, you could spend an entire day eating and shopping your way through this historic district.
As you walk in, be sure to snap a picture of the iconic Public Market Center sign and clock, as well as the market’s mascot Rachel, the 550-lb cast bronze piggy bank just outside the main entrance. You will also likely hear the good-natured cries of the fishmongers at the Pike Place Fish Market as they hurl entire salmon through the air. Just down the road you can get a cup of coffee at the first Starbucks, which has been open since 1975, or wander down Post Alley to grab delicious Italian food at The Pink Door. Make your mark on one of the city’s most famous and charming works of art by adding your own piece of gum to the Gum Wall, or climb to the market’s Secret Garden to enjoy great views of the water and the nearby Seattle Great Wheel.
Mount Rainier National Park
You don’t have to leave Seattle to get a glimpse of Mount Rainier. Washington’s highest peak dwarfs the city skyline at 14,410 feet and is easily visible for miles. But for those who want a closer look at the most-glaciated peak in the contiguous US, Mount Rainier National Park is just a two-and-a-half-hour drive from the city.
America’s fifth-oldest National Park covers more than 236,000 acres including the entirety of Mount Rainier, subalpine wildflower meadows, lush western red cedar and Douglas fir forests, and nine major rivers fed by the mountain’s snowmelt. A visit to the aptly named Paradise area will give you fantastic views of the southern face of the mountain, vast fields of multicolored lilies, and great day hiking opportunities like the Skyline Loop Trail which begins just behind the visitor center. The area is also home to Myrtle and Narata Falls, two roaring cascades located right along the road from the Nisqually Entrance. In the summer months, visitors can also easily access Reflection Lake via Stevens Canyon Road, and see the towering mountain reflected in the shimmering waters. While you can’t access the summit of Mount Rainier in your vehicle, the Sunrise area allows you to drive up to 6,500 ft for great high-altitude views of the surrounding peaks and valleys as well as Emmons Glacier on Rainier’s northern side.
The Museum of Flight
The Museum of Flight is located right next to the King County International Airport in Tukwila, just fifteen minutes south of Seattle. The 15-acre campus is the largest privately owned air and space museum in the world and is home to over 130 different air and space craft, the original Boeing Aircraft factory, and dozens interactive exhibits.
See some of history’s most notable airplanes including the world’s oldest fighter plane, a 1914 Caproni Ca.20, and the Boeing 747, the world’s first Jumbo Jet. The museum also houses the original Air Force One and the only supersonic Concorde Jet displayed in the US, both of which are open to visitors allowing you to view the interiors and cockpits of these historic planes. Learn about how NASA astronauts prepare for missions on the only full-scale Space Shuttle Trainer open to the public or climb abord the third Boeing 787 Dreamliner ever built to learn about the technology and development of the aircraft through a series of displays and artifacts. Visitors can also take a ride on the museum’s state-of-the-art flight simulator and experience realistic aerial combat on one of nine different fighter jet models.
Olympic National Park
Washington’s largest National Park covers nearly a million acres of wilderness on the Olympic Peninsula roughly two and a half hours west of Seattle. Olympic National Park is home to three distinct ecosystems due to the wide range of elevations and precipitation levels across the peninsula. Visitors can explore towering glacier-capped mountains, old-growth temperate rainforests, and wild, rocky coastline all within the same geographic area.
The area of the park closest to the city is Hurricane Ridge, just south of Port Angeles in the northern section of the peninsula. The area has great views of the Olympic Mountains, scenic wildflower meadows, and lots of hiking opportunities like the popular Hurricane Hill Trail. Nearby, you can drive along the shores Lake Crescent, a deep glacial lake at the foot of Mount Storm King or take a short hike out to see Marymere Falls. Visitors can also explore one of the rainiest places in the country by driving to the Hoh Rainforest. Short trails like the Hall of Moses Trail and the Spruce Nature Trail are great ways to experience the lushness of the area along the Hoh River. For sweeping ocean views the rocky Pacific coast is a great place to end your day in the park. Rugged beaches like Rialto Beach and Ruby Beach feature dramatic rock formations, tidepools teeming with ocean life, and gorgeous sunsets.
The Museum of Pop Culture
Located just ten minutes away from downtown, the Museum of Pop Culture is one of the Seattle’s most popular attractions. The distinctive and eye-catching building, designed by architect Frank O. Gehry, contains exhibits covering fantasy, horror cinema, music, science fiction, and video games. The museum also contains an extensive collection of artifacts from famous local musicians Jimi Hendrix and the band Nirvana, one of the largest indoor LED screens in the world, and the giant sound sculpture If VI Was IX, composed of more than 500 guitars and 30 computers.
Among the many artifacts from film and TV history are Dorothy’s dress from The Wizard of Oz, Captain Kirk’s command chair from Star Trek, the model of the Death Star from Star Wars, and the T-800 from The Terminator. The museum also curates an exhibit on the history and development of African American music and an interactive Indie Game Revolution room with a rotating selection of fifteen playable games from around the globe. Every year, the museum hosts the Science Fiction and Short Film Festival in collaboration with the Seattle International Film Festival.
Deception Pass State Park
Just an hour and a half north of Seattle, Deception Pass State Park is the most visited state park in Washington. Named for the waterway that connects Skagit Bay to the Salish Sea, the park features around 4,000 acres of ocean cliffs, lakes, and old-growth forests on Fidalgo and Whidbey Islands and is known for its abundant wildlife, gorgeous sunsets, and the nearly century-old Deception Pass Bridge, which connects the two islands 180 feet over the water below.
For visitors interested in learning about the history the area and the Civilian Conservation Corps’ various projects around Washington during the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps Interpretive Center features several artifacts and exhibits about the organizations impact on the state. The tide pools at Rosario Head are a great place to explore the unique ecosystem and find sea stars, sea urchins, and anemones along the rocky shoreline. The park maintains over thirty miles of hiking trails ranging from easy strolls like the Sand Dunes Interpretive Trail at West Beach to more challenging treks like Goose Rock and Lighthouse Point. Cranberry Lake is a perfect spot for a picnic, or to try your hand at kayaking or paddleboarding, and in the late mid-summer to early fall, the coastal waters are a great spot for salmon fishing.
Bainbridge Island
Bainbridge Island is located directly west of Seattle in the Puget Sound. The island can be reached in an hour and forty minutes by car, or by a thirty-minute ferry ride from the Seattle ferry terminal. The island is notable for its scenic views of the Seattle skyline and for being the birthplace of Pickleball.
The Bainbridge Island Art Museum, which opened in 2013, houses collections focused on showcasing local artists from around the Puget Sound region. Admission is free and the museum offers several classes, film screenings, and concerts throughout the year. Near the art museum, the Winslow Ravine is home to some of the island’s oldest buildings and a small shopping district with restaurants and shops selling local arts and crafts. To explore the lush greenery of this historic landmark, visitors can walk the John Nelson Trail, an easy mile and a half stroll through the greenery which will take you to Sakai Park, the home of Pia the Peacekeeper, an 18-foot-tall troll statue made from recycled wood. For more nature, visitors can check out the Bloedel Reserve, a 140-acre expanse of curated gardens and landscapes near Agate Point on the north end of the island.
Mount Spokane State Park
The largest of Washington’s state parks at 12,444 acres, Mount Spokane State Park is only forty-five minutes northeast of the city of Spokane in the Selkirk Mountains of eastern Washington. The park has over 100-miles of hiking trails to enjoy during the warmer months as well as a its own skiing and snowboarding area, making it an excellent daytrip destination any time of year.
During the summer, visitors can explore the Ponderosa pine forests and subalpine meadows teeming with wildflowers and beargrass. For a moderate day hike with some of the best vistas in the area, the Mount Kit Carson Trail provides panoramic views for miles around. For a more challenging adventure, summitting Mount Spokane on Trail 160 allows you to explore the Mount Spokane Vista House, a stone cabin and former fire lookout listed on the Spokane Register of Historic Places. In the late summer months, this trail is also a great spot for huckleberry picking at higher elevations. When the snow begins to fall, the Mount Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park, the region’s only nonprofit ski area, contains 55 runs across nearly 2,000 acres of skiable terrain. The rest of the park remains open as well providing opportunities for other winter recreation activities like snowshoeing and snowmobiling.
Colfax
The small town of Colfax is an hour south of Spokane at the confluence of the north and south forks of the Palouse River in southeastern Washington. The area’s relatively low annual rainfall and favorable climate provide favorable conditions for growing wheat, and Whitman County, in which the town is located, is largest producer of the crop in the state.
Colfax contains several historic buildings including the Perkins House and Cabin, the latter of which is the oldest building in the town. Both the cabin and the Victorian house built by town founder James Perkins in the late nineteenth century are maintained by the Whitman County Historical Society and are open to the public. A few blocks away, visitors can see the Codger Pole, a wooden monument erected in 1991 by Jonathan LaBenne. The monument commemorates a 1988 rematch of a legendary 1938 football game between local high school rivals the Colfax Bulldogs and the St. John Eagles. For a spookier excursion, visitors can take a tour of the St. Ignatius Hospital, the first hospital in Whitman County, which is purportedly haunted by the ghosts of former patients.
Palouse Falls
The official waterfall of Washington, Palouse Falls is about a two-hour drive from Spokane on the Palouse River. Located in its own state park, the 200-foot cascade in the Palouse River Canyon is one of the stops along the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail and a popular tourist destination for its historical and cultural significance, unique geology, and wildlife viewing opportunities.
The park provides three viewpoints to see the waterfall as well as several interpretive displays. The highest viewpoint, the Fryxell Overlook, is the best for viewing the entirety of the falls as well as a portion of the canyon. Beyond the park’s main feature, visitors may also be able to spot mule deer, yellow-bellied marmots, and bighorn sheep in the area. Just down the road, you can go for a swim at Lyons Ferry State Park or try your hand at fishing for steelhead trout or salmon before heading back to the city.
Walla Walla
The city of Walla Walla two hours and forty-five minutes south of Spokane just north of the Oregon border. Located on the banks of the Walla Walla River and surrounded by rolling hills and vineyards in one of the country’s premier wine regions, the city, once the largest city in the Washington territory, is a great daytrip destination with a vibrant award winning downtown and interesting historical attractions.
The region was first explored in the early 1800s, when Lewis and Clark traveled through the region on their way to Pacific, and Walla Walla played an important role in the westward expansion of the country. The Fort Walla Walla Museum houses artifacts an exhibits, including the state’s oldest surviving locomotive and a pioneer village, that explore the history of the region. Just outside of town, Bennington Lake provides ample fishing and boating opportunities on the man-made reservoir and several vineyards like Amavi Cellars offer wine tastings and serene views. You don’t have to travel far for great wine, as Walla Walla’s downtown boats forty different tasting rooms, as well as a variety of excellent restaurants and a farmer’s market every Saturday from May to October.
Wine, wilderness, and waterfalls wait in Washington!
From gazing up at snowcapped spires in the North Cascades to watching whole salmon fly through the air at the Pike Place Fish Market, Washington has memorable destinations aplenty. With just a few hours of driving, you can marvel at the unique geology of Palouse Falls, walk down the aisles of the original Air Force One, or hike through a temperate rainforest on the Olympic Peninsula. Whether you prefer the natural beauty of Mount Rainier or pop culture artifacts from famous sci-fi films, Washington has a little bit of everything just waiting to be discovered.
