Washington
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About Washington
The state of Washington in the Pacific Northwest of the United States is named after George Washington, the first President of the United States. It should not be confused with Washington, D.C., the capital of the USA. Washington has rugged and diverse regions like the Volcano Country, Coastal region, the Olympic & Kitsap Peninsulas, the Seattle-King County, the North Cascades, Columbia River Plateau, the Wine Country, the Palouse and finally the Rocky Mountain Gateway.
Good to know
- Capital: Olympia
- Climate: Very divers with very rainy weather in the Olympic Peninsula to semi-desert in the Cascade Range
- Timezone: UTC -8
- No. of inhabitants: 6,203,788 (2004)
- Travel alert: EnjoyYourWorld strongly advises you to take necessary precautions for a safe travel. For more info please follow this link
Highlights
- Olympic Mountains with rugged mountains, alpine meadows, rain forests, glaciers, lakes, and streams and an 80-km stretch of scenic Pacific shoreline.
- Cascade Range mountain chain
- Many of the range's highest peaks are still active volcanic cones such as Mt. St. Helens and Lassen Peak in Lassen Volcanic National Park
- Mt. Rainier National Park with Mt. Rainier, the 4,392 m high volcanic peak and its heavily forested lower slopes popular among hikers
- Other peaks in the Cascade Range are Mt. Shasta and Mt. Hood
- Crater Lake, in Crater Lake National Park
- North Cascades National Park
- The Cascade Tunnel (12.9 km), is one of the longest railroad tunnels in North America
- San Juan Islands where eagles nest and orca’s feed in the rich waters, a perfect place for hiking and biking
- The Space Needle and the Pacific Science Centre in Seattle
- See four of the five longest floating bridges in the world that are located in this state: the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge and Homer M. Hadley Bridge over Lake Washington, and the Hood Canal Bridge connecting the Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas
Getting Around
- Train: Amtrak trains to all of the Northwest's major cities
- Easy connections to the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta by car, bus, train, plane or ferry.
- If you are in a hurry take the US Interstate Highways (I 5, I 82, I 90, I 205 and the I 405)
- If not try the scenic and heritage byways throughout Washington:
- Chinook Scenic Byway takes you to Mount Rainier National Park and the Mather Parkway. Enjoy the scenic landscape with deep forests, icy lakes, misty waterfalls, and river canyons.
- Coulee Corridor Scenic Byway-an el-dorado for those interested in geology and ancient history. The entire corridor consists of a series of coulees, or dry canyons, boulders, gravel bars, sand dunes, and carved out basalt cliffs, shaped by the rushing torrents. More ancient are the granite formations in Northrup Canyon.
- International Selkirk Loop (Washington, Idaho) through a unique area with lakes and rivers, between the US and Canada, treading in the footsteps of Native Americans and gold seekers.
- Mountains to Sound Greenway-I-90: beginning at the Seattle waterfront, the byway takes you over the Cascade Mountains to the dry plateaus of eastern Washington
- Stevens Pass Greenway from Everett, through the grandeur of the Cascade Mountains with its rich wildlife (including bald eagles, deer, hawks, and salmon) to the fields of Wenatchee
- Strait of Juan de Fuca Highway-SR 112 follows the shoreline of a glacial fjord that connects Puget Sound to the Pacific Ocean
- Pacific Coast scenic Byway: one of the most beautiful drives stretching nearly the North-South length of Washington State along US 101, brings you to spectacular places such as Hurricane Ridge, Port Angeles, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Mt. Baker and Vancouver Islands to the north. The forests are home to bear, deer, elk, shorebirds and other animals. The area has plenty of facilities for visitors that want to go hiking on the rocky cliffs, explore creeks and beaches, or go fishing and kayaking.
Travel tips
Mt. Baker, Washington - North Cascades
My wife, Kaaren, and friends Bill and Chelsea just finished-up a 7-night stay in the Mount Baker, Washington area. This place is an outdoorsperson's paradise! We did a bit of lake fishing, whitewater rafting, and a lot of hikiing. This is without a doubt one of the best vacations that we have ever taken! While there, we stayed in a private vacation home managed by a company called Mt. Baker Lodging ( www.mtbakerlodging.com ). They provided us with the perfect basecamp during our stay. We rented a great cabin that was equipped with full kitchen facilities, great furnishings and decor, an outdoor gas grill, and a private outdoor hot tub! We intend to make Mount Baker an annual event!
Kevin and Kaaren Wallgreen - Ocean Shores, WA
Posted on 01-10-2007 by Kevin Wallgreen
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