8 Adrenaline Pumping Outdoor Activities to Try Near Seattle
Get your adrenaline pumping with these high-octane outdoor activities
By Hilary Meyerson May 23, 2018
This article originally appeared in the June 2018 issue of Seattle magazine.
This article appears in print in the June 2018 issue, as part of the “85 Best Outdoor Adventures” cover story. Click here to subscribe.
ZIP-LINING
> Fly through the trees via six different zip lines with Canopy Tours NW on this Camano Island farm (Camano Island, 332 NE Camano Drive; 360.387.5807; $65‒$103).
RAFTING
> Get your whitewater thrills on the Skykomish River with Alpine Adventures (Gold Bar, 221 Croft Ave. W; 800.723.8386; $74‒$154), based in Gold Bar, just one hour from Seattle.
GET YOUR KICKS: Zip-lining on Camano Island. Photo courtesy of Canopy Tours NW
STAND-UP PADDLEBOARDING (SUP)
> Surf the freighter waves in Puget Sound on an SUP with the experts at Seattle-based Salmon Bay Paddle (meet at Shilshole Bay; 206.465.7167; $199‒$399).
DOWNHILL MOUNTAIN BIKING
> Stevens Pass Bike Park (Summit at Stevens Pass, U.S. Hwy. 2; 206.812.4510; $43‒$249) gives you an adrenaline-rush ride. Rent a bike and protective gear, ride the lift up and scream down in a hurry.
PARAGLIDING
> Jump off Poo Poo Point on Issaquah’s Tiger Mountain and soar over trees and valley. If you’re nervous about flying solo, go for a tandem ride with Seattle Paragliding (Issaquah, 11206 Issaquah-Hobart Road SE; 206.387.3477; $225‒$2,650).
KITEBOARDING
> Learn to fly across the water on a kiteboard with the masters at Urban Surf (Wallingford, 2100 N Northlake Way; 206.545.9463; $100‒$510).
SKYDIVING
> If you’ve dreamed of jumping from an airplane, Skydive Snohomish (Snohomish, 9906 Airport Way; 360.568.7703; from $225) will help you experience free fall close to home.
GET YOUR KICKS: Ride the Puget Sound’s freighter waves on a stand-up paddle board. Photo by John Kwon
ROCK CLIMBING
> Little Si near North Bend is a hub for Seattle’s rock climbing fans. Get started with Pro Guiding Service (North Bend, 108 W North Bend Way; 425.888.6397; $150‒$920) and get ready for some hang time.
Follow Us
A New Place to Ice Skate by the Water
Hyatt Regency Lake Washington’s dockside rink offers lake views and eco-friendly synthetic ice.
Skating season has officially arrived. There’s a particular joy in gliding—or trying to—on cold days. I always go for the outdoor rinks, especially the ones strung with twinkling lights. It can be so romantic. And this year, there’s a new place to lace up. A 71-foot by 38-foot covered Glice rink is up and running…
Bergen: Finding a Home, Abroad
A trip across western Norway reveals strikingly Northwest sensibilities.
A few months ago, we randomly walked into Wallingford’s Fat Cat Records. Greeting us, face-out by the cash register, was not Nirvana, not Soundgarden, but Peer Gynt Suite, by the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg. Was this a Norse omen, a mischievous prank from Loki? For us, two Seattleites with a trip to Norway on the…
Hives Among the Headstones
Inside a north Seattle project reimagining cemeteries as sanctuaries for pollinators.
In many old stories, bees are more than just insects. They’re messengers—tiny intermediaries between the living and the dead. There was once even a custom in Europe and America known as “telling the bees:” When a family member died, or another significant life event occurred, someone would go to the hive to share the news….
Dispatches from Greenland, Part Two: Nuuk
An insider’s guide to Greenland’s mysterious, overlooked, and charming capital.
Greenland is too vast to take in all at once. Yet a few days in Nuuk—the island’s compact, curious capital, just a four-hour flight from Newark—offer a surprisingly complete portrait. Nuuk changes like the weather that shapes it: by turns wild and polished; intimate and bold. To Northerners, it feels as hectic as Manhattan; to…