Outside
Hear Classical Music on the Peninsula
Pastoral beauty and a symphonic soundtrack await at Quilcene’s Olympic Music Festival
WHERE: Quilcene, Washington, in the Olympic Peninsula. WHY: For the 29th season of the Olympic Music Festival (6/30–9/2. Sat.–Sun., 2 p.m. $14–$33. 7360 Center Road; 360.732.4800; olympicmusicfestival.org), where the pastoral grounds invite both strolling and swaying to classical masterworks. Take a seat inside the lovely, turn-of-the-century barn—or spread a picnic blanket on the luxurious lawn…
Best Hikes with Views
Sweeping coastal and mountain views offer big payoffs on these hikes and walks.
Mount ConstitutionOrcas Island Difficulty: Moderate to difficult; 6.7 miles round-trip, 1,490-foot elevation gain. Or easy; a scant eighth-mile from parking lot to tower Location: In the San Juan Islands, about three hours from Seattle, via Interstate 5 and the ferry from Anacortes. Nearest town: Eastsound, about 20 minutes from the top. Discover Pass required; parks.wa.gov …
Best Hikes into Old Growth Forest
Grove of the PatriarchsMount Rainier Difficulty: Easy; 1.5 miles round-trip, 50-foot elevation gain Location: About a two-hour drive from Seattle, on the southeast side of Mount Rainier National Park, via Enumclaw. Nearest town: Packwood, 14 miles. $15 park entrance fee; dogs prohibited; nps.gov If you like your trees old—really old—this easy one-and-a-half-mile lollipop loop is a…
Best Hikes to see Wildflowers
Two hikes boasting riotous wildflower displays and gorgeous mountain views.
Sourdough Ridge TrailSunrise, Mount Rainier Difficulty: Easy; 2.5 miles, 400-foot elevation gain Location: Two hours from Seattle in the northeast corner of Mount Rainier National Park. Nearest town: Enumclaw, 60 minutes. $15 park entrance fee; dogs prohibited; nps.gov For subalpine meadows bursting with extravagant color, head to Sunrise, the highest spot you can drive to on…
Best Hikes for Wildlife Spotting
Hike these trails to find owls and marmots and nearly 200 species of birds—oh my!
Golden Gate TrailParadise, Mount Rainier Difficulty: Moderate; 3 miles, approx. 1,000-foot elevation gain Location: About two and a half hours southeast of Seattle at Paradise on Mount Rainier. Nearest town: Ashford, 23 miles. $15 park entry fee; dogs prohibited; nps.gov In late summer, this trail cuts through a meadow so awash with vivid wildflower color, it…
Foodies Afloat
A new kind of moveable feast comes to the San Juan Islands.
Crudités with truffle salt…sweet corn soup with shrimp and jalapeño cornbread…bacon and kale farro with scrambled eggs…white chocolate raspberry cheesecake….It’s hardly what you’d expect to be served while on a sea kayaking trip. But I wasn’t on just any kayaking trip; I was tagging along on the inaugural voyage of a “gourmet” guided kayak trip…
LeMay: America’s Car Museum Opens in Tacoma
Tacoma’s new car museum is an ode to hitting the road.
Cars may have lost some street cred among bikers, environmentalists and anyone tired of pouring her paycheck into the gas tank, but a new museum in Tacoma is here to remind us of the glory days, when we could rev up and roll down the road free of guilt. LeMay: America’s Car Museum opens this…
Cannon Beach’s Annual Sandcastle Contest
WHERE: Cannon Beach, Oregon. WHY: The 48th Annual Sandcastle Contest (6/9, sculpting starts at 7:30 a.m., judging at noon; cbsandcastle.com), featuring incredible feats of architecture using the world’s most fickle medium. Open to contestants (register online) and spectators, the friendly competition invites sand sculptors of all ages to transform 20-foot-square plots of sand into spectacular…
Lighthouse Keeper: The New Dream Job
The email got me dreaming: Seattle mag writer Joe Follansbee sent word that his new book, the Fyddeye Guide to America’s Lighthouses, is now available. Joe, a consummate storyteller and maritime expert, has a boundless enthusiasm for these beautiful and historic beacons, as do I, after a weird and wonderful week I spent living in…
Summer Road Trips: 14 Small-Town Getaways
Leave the city behind for a weekend (or longer) and explore one of these tiny Northwest towns.
For many of us, it’s not a tough trade: swapping a reliable cell signal and ubiquitous WiFi for a sweet slice of small town heaven. Tucked away in all corners of the Northwest are tiny backwater hamlets, perched seaside, on idyllic bays or in mountain clefts, brimming with character, friendly locals and a peaceful main…
Take a Power Trip to Wild Horse Wind Farm
The Wild Horse wind farm near Ellensburg turns a small-town road trip into an eco-educational advent
From the moment they come into view as you climb the rolling hills just east of Ellensburg, what strikes you first about the turbines of the Wild Horse Wind and Solar Facility is their scale. Structures that looked like tiny black pinwheels on toothpicks stuck into the dry earth from just a few short miles…
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